


Princess Cut From Marble

by Hairjel, Pollyannaism, rose_of_the_underworld



Series: Dandelions [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fix-It, Found Family, Gen, Implied Rumbelle, Rumbelle Endgame, Swanfire endgame, Teen Pregnancy, but here i am, but it's the first in a series and they WILL happen eventually i promise, earned redemption arcs, i'm sorry these two ships don't feature as heavily in this installment, implied swanfire - Freeform, just wanted to make sure i reached the intended audience, the au where emma has two unplanned pregnancies that literally no one asked for, uses the parts of canon i like and throws out what i don't like
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-04-20 08:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hairjel/pseuds/Hairjel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollyannaism/pseuds/Pollyannaism, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_of_the_underworld/pseuds/rose_of_the_underworld
Summary: Charlie Kaye's adopted parents died and she stopped believing in happy endings. Years later, her biological brother contacts her and invites her to help him find their birth mother and help her break a curse. Armed with just her wits, musical abilities, and maybe a bit of magic, Charlie must keep the peace in her suddenly huge extended family and stop Storybrooke from falling apart.or, the AU where Emma has two kids and together they fix the things that canon broke.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is rose_of_the_underworld, aka Sam. I'm the main writer/poster of this work/series and the creator of Charlie and her adopted family. Hairjel and Pollyannaism have their own OCs for this universe, that you'll see later, and contribute a lot of ideas to this story. They've been on this journey with me for a few years now and are two of my best and closest friends. The Dandelions universe would not exist without them. They made this story fuller and deeper and I thank them for allowing me to write their characters into my world, and for all the contributions that they've made. 
> 
> Okay, so this story has been a long time coming. My co-creators and I created OCs who could help fix the things that canon broke and what started off as fun wish fulfillment became very serious and turned into a series rewrite. When OUAT started, it presented itself as a show about family and I feel like it got away from that. In my opinion, the creators became too involved with convoluted plots and ships and the story and characters suffered for it. My goal here is to focus more on the characters that we all fell in love with, give them storylines that they deserve, and use the plot to further advance them as people. I hope that you'll enjoy the journey and come to love our original characters. 
> 
> For the purposes of this story, Emma has been aged up. She came to The Land Without Magic in 1978, making her 33 years old when the story starts.

_ October 21, 2011 _

_ Why do I have a friend request from a little kid?  _ Charlie just decided to ignore it until she got another notification a few minutes later. It was a message from the same little kid:

> **Hi Charlotte!**
> 
> **I’m sorry to bother you, but I think you might be my sister. Were you given up for adoption by a woman named Emma Swan?**

Charlie blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. She looked at the kid’s profile picture. He certainly  _ looked _ like Charlie. She accepted Henry Mills’ friend request. His location was Storybrooke, Maine and she was his only friend. That was more than a little suspicious. She decided to message him back.

> **Hello “Henry”**
> 
> **Listen. I can tell you’re catfishing me. I saw that documentary. Storybrooke isn’t even a real place and you don’t have any other friends. You know my birth mother’s name so I’ll give you that. If you’re trying to gloat that she kept you and not me, I literally don’t care. I got adopted by wonderful parents and I’m happy so bug off.**

A few minutes later, Charlie got a video chat request. Fine, if this kid wanted a fight, she’d give him a fight.

“What?!” she yelled after accepting the call.

“Please don’t yell at me!” the frightened kid cried. “I’m not trying to catfish you. I don’t even know what that means! But my name really is Henry, Storybrooke is a real place, and I only made a Facebook so I could contact you. I’m not trying to be mean. Emma gave me up for adoption too. I just wanted to meet you. My adopted mom is evil and I have nobody. And I know you’re lonely too. I read the article about your adopted parents dying in a car crash and I’m sorry. Maybe we could meet and talk? I just want to know my family.”

The poor kid looked like he was about to cry.  _ Shit _ . 

“I’m sorry Henry,” Charlie cringed. “It’s just that I’m not used to people being nice to me.”

“It’s okay,” Henry gave her a small smile. “Can we meet up tomorrow at one? I have a lot to talk to you about.”

“Well I did miss your whole life,” Charlie snorted. “But where would we meet? I have no idea where Storybrooke is and I don’t have a car.”

“It’s actually the next exit after Portland,” Henry explained. “There’s a diner on the highway that’s halfway between them. Maybe you can take a bus to the edge of Portland and meet me for lunch at the diner?”

“I can do that,” Charlie smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Henry.”

“Great!” Henry’s grin was huge. “I’ll see you then!”

* * *

“So you’re telling me that everyone in Storybrooke is a fairy tale character that your adopted mother, the Evil Queen, cursed to be trapped there for all eternity?”  


“Exactly!” Henry nodded.

“And our birth mother is the only one that can save them?”

“Right, it was prophesized before her birth.”

“Henry,” Charlie said slowly. “Do you have any idea what that sounds like?”

“Please don’t say ‘crazy’,” Henry begged. “I get enough of that at home.” 

“I wasn’t gonna say crazy,” Charlie promised. “Believe me, I’ve had people say that about my PTSD and I didn’t like it so I would never say it to someone else – never mind that’s beside the point -”

“What’s PTSD?” Henry interrupted her rambling.

“Don’t worry about it,” Charlie deflected. “But anyway, how am I supposed to believe that?”

“Because I’m your brother?” Henry tried.

Charlie put her head in her hands. “No offense, Henry, but I’ve known you for like twenty minutes.”

“Okay, so you don’t believe in the curse,” Henry said. “It’s okay. I have plenty of time to convert you. But I’m going to Boston to get Emma tomorrow. Will you come with me?”

“What?!” Charlie’s head shot up. “Henry that’s ridiculous, you can’t just  _ go _ to Boston.”

“I can and I will,” Henry said. “Are you coming or not?”

“Henry.” Charlie sighed. “I really don’t think she wants the mistake she made at sixteen years old to show up on her front doorstep.”

“You think you’re a mistake?” Henry frowned.

“Well what else would I be? Nobody’s ready to have a kid at sixteen. Hence the adoption.”

“So am I a mistake too?”

“No!” Charlie back-pedaled. “I mean, I figured she would have gotten her life together by the time she was twenty-three, but maybe she just really couldn’t take care of you.  _ I’m  _ glad you’re alive. And so is your mom even if you fight.”

“Well if you won’t come for Emma, will you at least come for me?” Henry asked.

“Henry, I don’t have the money to go to Boston.”

“It’s cool,” Henry smiled. “I already bought your Greyhound ticket.”

“How?! You’re ten!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Henry shrugged. “Besides, you wouldn’t let a ten-year-old go to Boston all alone, would you?”

“You little sneak,” Charlie laughed. “Fine, as shady as this is, I’ll go with you. For  _ you _ , not Emma.”

“So I’ll meet you here tomorrow and we’ll go to the bus station?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They paid the bill and left the diner. Charlie was going to give Henry a handshake, but he hugged her first. She froze for a moment and then hugged him back. 

“Thank you, Charlie,” Henry said.

“No problem,” she whispered. 

* * *

“So I googled PTSD,” Henry said once the bus had started to move.

“Henry,” Charlie sighed. “I really,  _ really _ don’t want to talk about this right now. Or ever. I didn’t even mean to tell you that. Somethings just slip out while I’m rambling.”

“We don’t have to talk about it,” Henry said. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay with our little road trip. I read that PTSD symptoms can be triggered in certain situations. I just wanted to know if you were okay with car rides, you know, after the accident.”

_ Oh God, this kid is sweet _ , Charlie thought to herself as she gave him a half smile. “I’m okay with car rides, Henry. That was very thoughtful of you to ask, though.”

“Do you want to see my book?” he asked. 

“Sure.” Charlie smiled, eager to change the subject. “I love to read.”

“Me too,” Henry pulled a large book out of his backpack. 

“ _ Once Upon A Time _ ?” Charlie read the title.

“My teacher gave it to me,” Henry explained. “It will explain everything about the curse to you.”

“Right, the curse,” Charlie forced herself not to roll her eyes. She flipped the cover open trying to find the copyright page, but was met with the table of contents instead. She flipped through the first few pages several times in confusion.

“Looking for the copyright page?” Henry asked. 

“How did you know?” Charlie asked.

“You were looking for the line that says it’s fiction. To prove me wrong.” 

Charlie’s mouth hung open in shock while Henry grinned.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I looked too. Nothing. I don’t think this book was actually published. It just exists. It’s magic.”

“Oh come on,” Charlie said. “Your teacher had to get it from somewhere. Maybe it was a used book store and that’s why the page is missing.”

“No, Miss Blanchard said she just found it one day,” Henry insisted. “It was just there in the back of her closet.”

“Maybe she forgot she had it.”

“Or maybe it wasn’t there until we needed it.”

“Or maybe it was there before she moved in.”

“Or maybe it’s magic and you should just believe me.”

“Will it make you happy if I read it?” Charlie tried to diffuse the tension.

“Very,” Henry said.

Charlie opened the book again, but Henry flipped to the last chapter. She raised an eyebrow at him. 

“We don’t have enough time for the whole book right now,” he explained. “Right now I just need you to know the basics.”

“Alrighty then,” Charlie said. After she finished the chapter, she looked up to see Henry staring at her expectantly. 

“Well?” he asked. 

“Okay, it’s funny that the savior is named Emma. But that doesn’t mean it’s the same Emma that gave birth to us. Is our birth mom also the protagonist of a Jane Austen novel?”

“Of course not.” Henry rolled his eyes. “Be serious, Charlie.”

“Oh my God,” Charlie mumbled. “So I’m supposed to believe that Emma is the same Emma in this book?” 

“I told you that yesterday,” Henry pointed out.

“So that makes Snow White our grandma?”

“Exactly!”

“So what is  _ my  _ role in all of this curse stuff? I’m not in the prophecy. And I’ve never even been to Storybrooke.”

“You’re my partner-in-crime,” Henry said. “You’re supposed to help me bring Emma home and make her believe. You’re instrumental in breaking the curse.”

“Well I don’t know if you necessarily need my help. You seem to have worked out everything for yourself,” Charlie pointed out.

“I  _ want _ your help,” Henry said. “You’re my family and I want you on my side.”

“I  _ am _ on your side,” Charlie promised. “I’m here, aren’t I? For now, let’s just focus on finding Emma and bringing her home with you, okay?”

“Okay,” Henry conceded.

_ And I thought  _ I  _ had issues _ , Charlie thought.

“Wait,” Henry said. “You said bring Emma home with  _ me _ . Aren’t you coming?”

“Oh Henry, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t just move to Storybrooke. Where would I even live?”

“With Emma of course!” Henry thought this was obvious. “And once she defeats the Evil Queen, I’ll live with you too!”

“That’s really nice to think about, but Emma’s going to have enough to deal with. I can’t ask her to just take me in too.”

“She’ll want to,” Henry insisted. 

“No she won’t,” Charlie shook her head. “She wanted me to get adopted because she knew my best chance wasn’t with her.”

“But your parents aren’t around anymore,” Henry stated. “You live with your aunt now, right? Is she really nice? Do you want to stay with her?” 

“My aunt is the opposite of nice.” Charlie gave a bitter laugh. “This has nothing to do with her. Emma signed a paper seventeen years ago saying that she needed someone else to take care of me. End of story.” 

“But Emma’s your mother and she’s older now,” Henry insisted. “Now she  _ is _ your best chance. And she’s the Savior. She’ll want to save you too.”

“I don’t need saving, Henry,” Charlie said. “I’m not some damsel in distress.”

“But you’re not happy,” Henry pointed out. 

“Of course I’m happy,” Charlie plastered a fake smile on her face. “Why would you say that?”   
“I can see it in your eyes,” Henry said. “You have the same look that everyone in Storybrooke has. No matter how big you smile, there’s something about you that’s lost and sad. Emma’s going to bring back all of the happy endings, yours too.”

“Maybe she will,” Charlie said. “But I’m not going to live with her in Storybrooke.”

“Don’t you want to at least be able to see me?” Henry frowned.

“Yes of course I do.” Charlie squeezed his hand. “I’ll come visit you whenever I can. But as far as Emma’s concerned, I still want to live with my adopted parents.”

“You’re not gonna tell her about them?”

“No,” Charlie shook her head. “And neither are you.”

“Why not?”

“I told you, she has enough to deal with. Just promise me you won’t say anything, okay?”

“Okay,” Henry promised. 

It seemed like no time at all before Charlie and Henry had made it to Boston. Henry had hailed a cab and paid for it with a credit card, no doubt acquired by dubious means, but Charlie let it go for the sake of the mission. They were standing in front of a door in a swanky apartment building when Charlie’s nerves kicked in. Henry knocked, while Charlie’s hands started to shake.  _ Keep it together, Kaye _ , Charlie clenched her fists in an effort to keep them still. Before she was ready, the door opened. 

A woman in her early thirties looked at them in confusion. Charlie’s mouth had gone dry and she could only stare back. She was taller than Charlie, and at first Charlie thought that they looked nothing alike. This woman had blonde hair and blue-green eyes where Charlie’s hair and eyes were both a dark brown. She had ivory skin with a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks; Charlie’s skin was more olive toned. Then Charlie noticed that they had the same chin. 

“Uhh, can I help you?” the woman asked.

“Are you Emma Swan?” Henry asked.

“Yeah. Who are you?”

“My name’s Henry and this is Charlie. We’re your kids.”

Emma’s eyes widened and she froze. Charlie couldn’t blame her. Henry had dropped the same bomb on her only two days ago. Henry pushed past Emma into the apartment. Emma glanced at Charlie who shrugged before they both followed Henry inside. 

“Whoa! Hey, kid! Kid! Kid! I don’t have any children! Where are your parents?” Emma was vocal, while Charlie couldn’t seem to say a word. 

“Did you give two babies up for adoption?” Henry asked. “That was us.”

Emma paused. Charlie held her breath. Henry waited.

“Give me a minute,” Emma finally said and disappeared into a nearby room. 

Charlie attempted to shake herself out of it while Henry rummaged in Emma’s fridge.  _ Damn, nice apartment _ , Charlie thought to herself.  _ I wonder what her job is _ . After a minute, Emma walked back into the kitchen. 

“You know, we should probably get going,” Henry put the bottle of juice down.

“Going where?” Emma asked. 

“I want you to come home with me,” Henry said. 

“And what about you?” Emma turned to Charlie. 

“I just wanted to make sure he got to you and then home safely,” Charlie said. “You don’t have to come home with me. I have my own life.” 

“How do you two even know each other?” Emma asked. “They were two closed adoptions, seven years apart.”

“Internet.” Henry shrugged.

Charlie snorted.

“I’m calling the cops.” Emma reached for the phone. 

“Then we’ll tell them you kidnapped us,” Henry said. 

Charlie’s eyes widened, but she nodded along with him.  _ I already got myself into this mess. Better see it through to the end.  _

“And they’ll believe you because I’m your birth mother.” 

“Yep,” Henry said.

“And you’re cool with this?” Emma turned to Charlie. “You’re gonna lie to the cops and tell them I kidnapped the two of you?”

“Yes.” Charlie tried not to blink. 

“You’re pretty good. Both of you. But here’s the thing – there’s not a lot I’m great at in life. I have one skill. Let’s call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying, and you two are.” 

Emma started to dial 911.

“Wait,” Henry pleaded. “Please don’t call the cops. Please, come home with me.”

Emma hung up the phone. Charlie let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

“Where’s home?”

“Storybrooke, Maine,” Henry said.

“Storybrooke? Seriously?” Emma was not amused. 

“Mmhmm,” Henry smiled.

“You too?” Emma asked Charlie.

“No, I live in Portland, Maine,” Charlie said. “Storybrooke is the next exit after Portland. You can drop me off on the way to Henry’s house.”

“Alrighty, then,” Emma said. “Let’s get you two to Maine.”

  


*

  


“This is it,” Charlie turned to Emma in the driver’s seat. “Thank you for driving me home. Please make sure that Henry gets home safely.”

“No problem.” Emma shook her head. “Although you wouldn’t need to thank me if you would have just stayed home in the first place.”

“I came for Henry.” Charlie narrowed her eyes. “I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“Well, I give you kudos for that, kid,” Emma said with a nod.

“Thanks.” Charlie gave a half-smile before turning to look at Henry in the back. “Don’t give her a hard time, Henry. The mission will work out for the best. Thanks for making me a part of it.”

“Mission?” Emma asked. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Charlie got out of the car and heard Emma and Henry do the same. She turned and raised an eyebrow at them.

“I was gonna walk you to the door,” Emma explained. 

“Unnecessary,” Charlie shook her head. “Besides, I don’t want to freak my parents out. They think I was at a friend’s house all day.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure. I’m seventeen, I can handle walking to the door.” She turned to Henry with a smile. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Hopefully I can come to visit you soon.”

“Okay.” Henry smiled back and gave Charlie a hug. 

Charlie held onto Henry tightly and tried not to cry. Before she could pull away, Henry whispered in her ear. 

“You’ll get your happy ending, Charlie. I promise.”

“I believe you,” she giggled. 

Charlie waved goodbye to Emma and Henry and turned towards the house before she let her smile drop. She felt sick. Charlie had missed curfew by a long-shot. She had hoped that Aunt Judith would be asleep by the time she got home, but the lights in the living room were still on. She wanted to leave and come back when the house was dark, but she knew that Emma wouldn’t let that happen. She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked inside. 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay you guys, Chapters 1-3 are a type of prologue and introduction to Charlie's character. We get into some more plot heavy stuff in Chapter 4. I wanted to post the first 4 chapters at once so we could get through the exposition all in one go with a more plot-oriented chapter directly afterward.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is child abuse in this chapter

Aunt Judith sat in an armchair facing the door with her arms crossed. She was wearing a bathrobe and slippers, but her makeup and pearls were still on. There was a part of Charlie that wanted to laugh. The scene was straight out of a teen drama where the mother waits up late for the prodigal daughter. But Judith was not her mother and Charlie knew the consequences of her tardiness were not Disney Channel approved. Charlie did not laugh. 

“Well, look who finally decided to greet me with her presence,” Aunt Judith said with ice in her voice.

“Hello, Aunt Judith,” Charlie’s voice sounded small to her ears. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“And where were you?” Aunt Judith asked.

“At work,” Charlie mumbled while looking at her shoes. “Remember? I went after Church.”

“That’s a much longer shift than you usually work,” Aunt Judith said.

“One of the other waitresses got sick so Hannah asked me to cover her shift. I thought it would be good to get some extra hours in.” 

Charlie heard Aunt Judith rise from the chair and walk across the living room toward her. She flinched in spite of herself but focused on her scuffed up, black converses. She wouldn’t show her aunt the fear she knew must be shining through her eyes. Aunt Judith now stood in front of her.

“Charlotte, look at me,” she said.

Charlie raised her eyes to meet Judith’s. She caught a glimpse of glacier blue irises before - 

_ Whack! _

Charlie stumbled backward and her hand flew to her stinging right cheek. 

“ _ Don’t lie to me _ ,” Judith hissed. “When you weren’t home at your usual time I checked your schedule and you weren’t even scheduled to work Sunday in the first place.”

“You went through my desk?!” Charlie narrowed her eyes. “That’s a complete invasion of privacy!”

“This is  _ my _ house,” Judith said. “I have the right to examine whatever I please.  _ You _ , on the other hand have no right to lie to me. So I’ll ask again, where were you?” 

Charlie’s heart was racing and Aunt Judith’s face was getting redder. She knew that if she didn’t answer quickly another hit was coming. But she knew that she couldn’t tell her aunt about Emma and Henry and her joyride to Boston. 

“ _ Answer me _ .” Judith’s words were accompanied by her saliva sprinkling Charlie in the face.

“I had a school project,” Charlie invented. “I was partnered with Isabella Greenwood and I know you don’t like her family. I’m sorry I lied, but I was afraid you wouldn’t let me go to her house and that I would fail the project.” 

“You’re right, I don’t like that family,” Aunt Judith said with a sniff. “They let their daughter parade around the city with all of those boys in those short skirts. It’s not proper. You should’ve gone to the library.”

“The library is closed on Sundays,” Charlie said. “We had to get the project done.”

“Well then you shouldn’t have waited until the last minute,” Judith said.

“Yes, Aunt Judith. I’m sorry.”

“Stay away from that girl’s house in the future,” Aunt Judith said. “She always has boys over and I won’t have you become a slut like my sister.”

“Don’t talk about my mother like that!” Charlie yelled. 

Judith slapped her again.

“Don’t yell in my face!” Judith screeched. “And I’ll say whatever I want if it’s the truth. Your mother  _ was _ a slut and because she tainted herself, she had to settle for your father. A man who was incapable of having a real job and  _ clearly _ incapable of giving her children so then they settled for  _ you _ \- an example of another woman’s bad moral choices. I just still can’t believe  _ I _ had to get stuck with you!”

“Well, it seems like ‘getting stuck with me’ is the only way you won’t be alone.” Charlie smirked, unable to help herself. “My mom started traveling and left you, your husband left you. Hell, your own parents actually  _ died _ to get away from you.” 

Charlie tried to push past Judith, but was unsuccessful. Judith grabbed onto Charlie’s wrist and then punched her in the left eye. Charlie cried out at the pain and Judith tightened her hold on Charlie’s wrist and brought her close to her face. Charlie could smell stale cigarettes on Judith’s breath.

“My husband left because of you,” Judith hissed. “We didn’t want you so he left and  _ I _ stayed here with you out of the goodness of my heart. And you have made me regret it  _ every single day _ .” 

Judith finally released Charlie’s wrist. Charlie was sure that Aunt Judith’s marriage was on the rocks long before she came into the picture. When her family used to spend the rare holiday with Aunt Judith and Uncle Spencer, Charlie had noticed they shared none of the affection that her parents held for each other. Charlie was tempted to point this out, but she could barely see through the tears leaking out of her left eye and decided she had spoken up enough for one night. She straightened her back, held her chin up high, and walked to her room.

The next morning Aunt Judith barged into Charlie’s room without knocking. As usual. Charlie was just glad that she was dressed already. Charlie ignored her aunt as she started to pack her books into her backpack. Judith walked over to Charlie, grabbed her chin, and looked into Charlie’s face. Charlie wondered if the woman felt any guilt for the black eye she had caused the night before. Charlie was shocked that Judith had even punched her there - usually she was smart enough to only leave bruises that could easily be concealed with clothing. 

Judith dropped Charlie’s chin and reached into the pocket of her bathrobe. She pulled out a bottle of concealer and a pair of silver scissors. 

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup.” Charlie knew she shouldn’t test her aunt like this, but it was  _ that _ kind of morning. 

“I don’t need a phone call from a guidance counselor today,” Judith said. “If the concealer doesn’t cover it, you’d better give yourself bangs.” 

“And if I don’t?” Charlie challenged. “What if I just walk into school proudly with a big ol’ shiner and tell the guidance counselor my guardian hits me? And then what?” 

“You wouldn’t,” Judith said with a laugh. “Because then everyone would know that brave Charlie Kaye who tries to fool everyone into thinking she’s so tough and big and strong is really just a weak, scared little girl who can’t defend herself. And a fake reputation is all you really have, isn’t it?” 

Judith slammed the door behind her when she left. Charlie dug her nails into her fists and tried to take deep breaths. She turned to the mirror. Her eye was swollen and a deep red color. She knew that it would turn purple the next day, maybe even by that afternoon. 

There was a part of Charlie that didn’t want to hide the bruise - that wanted to wear it proudly and have everyone know the injustice she was suffering. But a much larger part of Charlie was controlled by her fear. Aunt Judith was right. Charlie was afraid of people knowing how breakable she truly was. Everyone at school avoided the traumatized orphan and Charlie was fine with that. She didn’t want to become a target for bullies if everyone knew she couldn’t fight back. 

* * *

Emma looked at the house nervously. It was nothing at all like the mansion that Henry lived in with Regina, but most houses weren’t. It was decent, but not necessarily  _ nice _ . There was just something off about the place. Before arriving in Storybrooke, Emma didn’t believe in auras at all, but the town was odd and so was this house in Portland. When Emma had given Charlie up for adoption, she had imagined the baby growing up in a nice home, not this, whatever it was.

After about five minutes of staring, Emma decided to stop acting like a creep and ring the doorbell. There was no answer. Emma stared at the door again. Now what? Did she come back later? Did she wait for the family to come home like a stalker? Eventually a girl about Charlie’s age came out of the house next door.

“Excuse me, Miss,” she called to Emma. “Are you looking for Miss Judith? She won’t be home from work for a few hours.”

“I was looking for Charlie actually,” Emma explained. “Judith is her mom right?”

“No,” the girl shook her head. “Miss Judith is her aunt. She took Charlie in when her parents died.”

Emma’s stomach dropped.

“Died?” she gasped. “They’re dead?”

“For about two years now,” the girl shrugged. “That’s when she moved in anyway.”

“She didn’t tell me,” Emma whispered to herself.

“Excuse me?” the girl asked. 

“Sorry,” Emma shook her head. “Talking to myself. Never mind. Do you know Charlie? Will she be home from school soon?”   
“Well, we don’t talk,” the girl said. “But we see each other around. I know she works at a diner most afternoons. I see her there sometimes when I’m there. She might be there now.”

“Can you tell me how to get there?” Emma asked.

* * *

“Charlie, Table Seven asked specifically for you,” her co-worker told her.

“Okay,” Charlie put on her customer service smile and walked to the booth. She expected it to be one of the diner’s regulars. She just hoped it was a nice customer rather than a creepy one. 

“Hi, welcome to - ” Charlie cut herself off when she locked eyes with the customer. It was worse than a creepy customer.

“Hi Charlie,” Emma looked both amused at Charlie’s reaction and a little pissed off. 

How was that possible?  _ She _ was the one who randomly showed up at Charlie’s place of work unannounced. Although, to be fair, Charlie had shown up at Emma’s home unannounced just over a week ago. 

“Hi Emma,” Charlie nervously smoothed her new side bangs over her eye. “What can I get for you?”

“Well, an explanation of a few things would be nice,” Emma raised an eyebrow. “But first, a hot cocoa with cinnamon will do.”

“Right,” Charlie fast-walked to the kitchen to get the drink.  _ I can’t believe she likes cinnamon on her cocoa too. _ Charlie shook her head. That was the least of her concerns. What was Emma doing here? How the hell did she even know where Charlie worked? She must have gone to the house and asked for her.  _ Fuck _ . Hopefully Aunt Judith wasn’t home and it was just one of the nosy neighbors who told her.  _ But she wants “explanations”. What the fuck does that mean? Fuck fuck.  _ Charlie tried to play it cool when she brought the drink over to Emma. 

“Wow, I can’t believe someone other than me likes cinnamon on their cocoa,” Charlie smiled wide to hide her panic. 

“Henry does too,” Emma remarked. “Must be an inherited trait.”

“Must be,” Charlie murmured. “Have you decided what you want to eat yet?”

“Let’s not beat around the bush, Charlie,” Emma’s face was serious. “Why didn’t you tell me that your parents passed away?”

“Listen, Emma, I’d love to stay and chat, but I  _ am _ at work and there are other tables to be seen to,” Charlie looked at her feet.

“Place seems pretty empty to me. You have a break don’t you? Use it,” Emma’s tone left no room for argument. It was almost scary.

“Hannah, I’m taking my break now,” Charlie called to the manager as she walked by.

“That’s fine, dear. You’ve been working hard today.”

Charlie slid into the seat opposite of Emma.

“Well?” Emma prompted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Charlie glared. 

“Because I gave you up for adoption. I wanted you to have parents,” Emma glared right back. 

“And I was adopted,” Charlie said. “People die sometimes.”

“And you’re happy with your aunt?” Emma asked. “She treats you right? Did she offer to take you in or did she just get stuck with you?”

“God, what’s with the twenty questions?” Charlie rolled her eyes. “What are you, a detective?”

“Bail bondsperson, actually,” Emma replied. “And I know that not everyone who takes in a child  _ wants  _ that child. So I’m gonna ask you again. Are you happy with your aunt?”

“My parents are dead,” Charlie said. “How could I be happy after that?”

“Christ,” Emma ran her hands through her hair. “I’m sorry, Charlie.”

“I don’t need your pity,” Charlie glared even harder.

“It’s not pity, it’s empathy,” Emma frowned. “I grew up without parents too. Also, glaring is only really effective if you use both eyes. What’s with the bangs? You didn’t have them a few days ago.”

Charlie felt the blood drain from her face.

“I needed a change,” she shrugged. “What, are haircuts illegal now?”

Emma suddenly reached out and flipped Charlie’s bangs out of her face and then gasped.

“ _ Who did this to you? _ ” Emma’s voice was ice cold. 

“I got hit with a ball in gym class,” Charlie stared at the table. 

“Don’t lie, Charlie,” Emma demanded. “Who. Did this. To you?” 

“My aunt,” Charlie whispered. 

“You’re not going back there,” Emma said. 

“Then where am I going?” Charlie spat. 

“With me,” Emma said.

“You gave me up!” Charlie shouted.

Her cheeks grew hot when she realized that everyone in the diner was staring at her. She stood up and walked outside. 

“Charlie,” Emma called. When the girl didn’t stop, Emma sighed, threw some money on the table and followed her out. 

Charlie was sitting on a bench ten feet away from the diner. And she was crying.

“Charlie,” Emma walked over to her. 

“Leave me alone,” Charlie sobbed. 

“Please talk to me,” Emma pleaded. 

“You’re not my mom!” Charlie yelled. 

“I didn’t raise you, but I  _ did _ have you. I wanted to make sure that you’re okay, and  _ clearly _ you’re not. Please just let me help you.”

“I  _ had _ parents,” Charlie said. “I don’t need new ones, or old ones, or whatever. Why can’t you respect that?”

“I do respect that you had parents,” Emma sat next to her. “I would never try to replace them. I can see that you loved them. But, I can’t just sit idly by while you get hurt. I gave you up for adoption to give you your best chance.”

“And you did,” Charlie looked at her. “They were my best chance. They were  _ the _ best chance that anyone could have had.”

“I’m sure they were. But this woman you’re with now, she’s definitely not your best chance. This isn’t the first time this has happened, has it?”

Charlie shook her head. 

“Then you need to leave,” Emma insisted. 

“You’re gonna call child services, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Emma nodded.

Charlie choked on another sob. 

“I don’t want you to end up in the foster system,” Emma held Charlie’s hand. “Will you please let me take care of you? You don’t have to call me ‘Mom’ or anything, just come live with me.”

“You mean move all the way to Boston?” Charlie asked.

“Well, actually,” Emma said. “I’m moving to Storybrooke. That’s actually why I came here today, you know before I found out about your...living situation. I wanted to tell you that I was staying. I thought that maybe we could get to know each other and spend some time with Henry if it was okay with your parents. But then…”

“Then you found out how fucked up my life is,” Charlie finished.

“Yeah, that,” Emma squeezed her hand again. “The choice is ultimately up to you, but I’d really like it if you came to Storybrooke with me. I know that Henry would love it too. He talks about you a lot. I can’t believe you only met the day before you met me.”

“He’s a great kid,” Charlie smiled through her tears. 

“He is,” Emma agreed. “And so are you. I can tell. And you’re so strong. But you deserve to feel safe. Will you come with me?” 

“Okay,” Charlie said. “But it’s only because I respect you and I want to be near Henry. I don’t want a new mom.”

“Understood,” Emma allowed. “But I need you to be brave for me for a little while longer. I want to get you out of there today, but I don’t want you to get stuck in a foster home for months. So as much as I want to take you to the police and have this woman sent to prison, it might be easier to avoid the legal route.”

“What does that mean?” Charlie asked.

“It means we have to go back to your house,” Emma said. “We’re going to tell your aunt that you’re leaving with me, we’ll get your stuff, and then we’ll go to Storybrooke. I’m in an apartment with a roommate and there’s a third bedroom for you. I hope Mary Margaret won’t mind. I’ll call her when we’re on our way over there and I’m sure she’ll at least let us stay the night. We can figure out the rest in the morning.”

“What if Aunt Judith tries to fight you?” Charlie asked. 

“I’m not afraid of her,” Emma said fiercely. “I’ll fight right back, and if we do need to get the police involved, we will. It’ll suck and take longer but you’ll still be safe.”

“Even if Judith lets me go,” Charlie said. “What if your roommate doesn’t want me there?”

“Then we’ll go somewhere else,” Emma said with a shrug. “I’ll find a hotel nearby for us until we find something more permanent in Storybrooke. But as long as I can help it, I won’t leave you alone again. I promise.” 

Charlie gaped at Emma. She was speechless for a minute. Finally, she found her voice.

“You would uproot your entire life again for me?” Charlie asked. “You just did this a week ago.”

“Absolutely,” Emma said with a nod. “I did it for Henry, why wouldn’t I do it for you?” 

Charlie couldn’t think of a response to that. No one had shown that kind of concern for her in years. 

“You’ve been so brave already, Charlie.” Emma interrupted the silence. “Can you be brave for a little while longer?”

“Yes, I can.” Charlie let go of Emma’s hand and wiped the last of her tears away.

“Good.” Emma stood up and offered her hand to Charlie. “Are you ready?”

“No.” Charlie allowed Emma to help her up. “But let’s do this.” 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie entered the house with Emma following close behind her.

"For once in your life you're home early," Judith's snide voice called from the dining room. The woman herself rounded the corner into the living room and froze when she saw Emma.

"Who are you?" She asked Emma.

"I'm Emma Swan," she said. "Charlie's mother."

Judith raised her eyebrows for a moment before schooling her features into her usual cold mask.

"Well I have to admit I'm surprised," Judith remarked. "Figured you'd be dead of a drug overdose by now. That's what usually happens to teenage mothers."

Emma snorted.

"Cute," she said. "But let's cut the crap, lady. I know who you are and I know how you treat Charlie. She's coming with me." Emma turned to Charlie. "Let's go to your room."

Charlie nodded and moved toward the stairs but Judith grabbed her arm.

"Ungrateful bitch -" Judith couldn't finish her sentence.

Emma used her forearm to pin Judith to the wall by her throat. In her shock, Judith dropped Charlie's arm and gasped.

"Don't ever try to touch her again," Emma hissed. "You have no idea who you're dealing with." Emma used the hand that wasn't pinning Judith down to move her jacket to the side, revealing a gun holster. "I have a concealed carry license and I work in law enforcement. I'll say it was self-defense and no one will question it. Now I suggest you back off while we gather Charlie's things."

Emma let Judith go and placed a gentle hand on Charlie's shoulder to lead her upstairs. When they had closed the door to Charlie's room, Emma carefully took Charlie's wrist and raised it to her eye.

"Did she hurt you?" Emma asked.

"No, she didn't have time." Charlie shook her head. "Thank you."

Emma nodded.

"Let's get your stuff together."

It only took them about two hours to gather all of Charlie's things. She had moved so often with her parents that she had made sure that most of what she owned could be packed into her trunk and few bags. She hadn't acquired many new possessions during her time with Judith either.

"Is that it?" Emma asked when the room was seemingly bare.

"One minute," Charlie said. She reached under the bed and removed a few loose floorboards. She pulled out a battered paperback set of the Harry Potter series as well as the accompanying DVD collection. "My contraband items," Charlie explained when Emma raised an eyebrow.

"A children's series is contraband?"

"Aunt Judith tried to throw them away, but I rescued them from the garbage and snuck them back up here. She says that Harry Potter is satanic and that I'll go to hell for reading and watching it."

"I'm sorry what?" Emma asked. "Isn't Harry like a Jesus metaphor?"

"That's what I said," Charlie said. "But it's the magic that's evil according to Aunt Judith.... She's really Christian."

"Wow. Okay." Emma shook her head in disbelief.

Charlie put the books and DVDs in her backpack.

"Okay, I'm ready now," Charlie said.

It only took them three trips to the car to get Charlie's belongings out of the house. Judith stayed out of sight.

"Anything else?" Emma asked, closing the trunk.

"My mom's teapot is in the kitchen," Charlie said. "I know it's dumb, but it was hers and I don't think Judith deserves to have it."

"She might be in there," Emma warned. "Do you want me to go look for it? You can describe it to me."

"No." Charlie shook her head. "I need to do it. I should say goodbye to her anyway."

"You don't owe her anything," Emma said fiercely.

"I know that," Charlie said. "This is for me."

"Alright." Emma started to walk toward the house.

"Emma wait," Charlie called.

Emma stopped and turned back to her.

"I want to do this alone," Charlie said. "I need to do this alone."

"She could hurt you again," Emma said with a frown.

"She won't," Charlie said. "You scared the shit out of her. I could tell. I won't be long."

"If you're not out in ten minutes I'm coming in," Emma relented.

Charlie nodded and went back into the house. Emma was right. Judith was sitting in the kitchen with a glass of wine. Charlie went into a cabinet and pulled out the teapot.

"I'm taking this," Charlie said.

"Why wouldn't you?" Judith glared at her. "All you do is take."

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked.

"You take my time, my money, my energy. You took my sister. She was already far too dedicated to that fool husband of hers and then when she found you, she was completely gone."

Charlie ignored the slight to her father.

"So you're mad that your sister grew up and had a family?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"She abandoned the one she had!" Judith spat.

"Well to be fair, it didn't sound like the family she had was very nice to her," Charlie said. "She never got along with you or your parents."

"Because she made poor decisions," Judith retorted.

"She followed her heart," Charlie said. "She wanted adventures so she had them. You and your parents were always trying to hold her back."

"She was selfish." Judith crossed her arms. "And she taught that selfishness to you."

"You're always saying I'm selfish but I've never asked you for anything!"

"You're belligerent," Judith said. "Your atrocious attitude chased my husband away!"

"Seriously?!" Charlie shook her head. "It's my fault he couldn't handle a grieving thirteen year old?!"

"He never should have had to," Judith said.

"No one should have to," Charlie said. "But that's life and that's what family's supposed to do when bad things happen."

"You're not my blood," Judith said.

"No, I'm not," Charlie agreed. "But family is about more than blood or marriage. Maybe if you didn't constantly look down on your sister she could've taught you that. She taught me that."

Judith didn't respond. Charlie didn't know if she wanted her to.

"Goodbye Judith," Charlie said. She took her mother's teapot and left the house. She didn't look back. 

Emma was leaning against the yellow bug with her arms crossed. She looked worried.

"I got it." Charlie held up the teapot. "Let's go, please."

Emma nodded and walked around to the driver's side. Charlie settled herself into the passenger's seat, careful not to jostle the teapot. They drove in silence for a few minutes.

"You okay, kid?" Emma asked.

"Not really," Charlie said. She paused for a moment. "She didn't even fight for me. I wanted to leave. I didn't want to be with her anymore and I know she never wanted me. But I at least thought she'd fight for me." Charlie took a deep breath and then exhaled. "It's funny, isn't it? After all this time, after all she did to me, I just wanted some small part of her to love me. Is that not completely messed up?"

Emma reached over and squeezed Charlie's shoulder briefly before bringing her hand back to the steering wheel.

"We all want someone to love us, Charlie," she said. "Sometimes it's just the wrong person."

Silence again.

"I called Mary Margaret - my roommate - while you were inside," Emma said. "She says you're welcome to stay."

"For the night?" Charlie asked.

"Well, I'm going to talk it over with her again later to make absolutely certain, but she said she'd be happy to have the two of us live there permanently."

"But she's never even met me," Charlie said. "Why would she do that?"

"Well I haven't known Mary Margaret for long," Emma said. "But I think that's just the kind of person she is. She's definitely the sweetest person I've ever met."

"Wow," Charlie said. And then after a moment, "She's supposed to be Snow White, right?"

Emma shot Charlie a confused glance.

"Henry sent me an email yesterday," Charlie explained. "He said you moved in with his teacher who's Snow White and you guys rescued Prince Charming together?"

"Oh boy," Emma sighed. "Saturday was kind of wild, but not that wild."

Emma told Charlie all about the John Doe coma patient that had awakened and gone missing over the weekend.

"Sounds like you had a really interesting first week in town," Charlie said, shaking her head.

"That's not even half of it," Emma said.

"What?!" Charlie exclaimed.

"I also may have started a rivalry with the mayor a.k.a. Henry's mom," Emma said.

"A.k.a. The Evil Queen," Charlie confirmed.

"Not you too," Emma groaned.

"Hey, I'm not saying I believe it," Charlie said. "But you've gotta admit Henry weaves an interesting tale. It's like a modern fantasy crossover soap opera."

"Well he certainly has a big imagination," Emma said. "He should become a writer himself.”

“Maybe he will.” Charlie shrugged. 

They sat in silence for a minute.

"So, I saw that keyboard," Emma said. "You a musician?"

"Well, I play." Charlie blushed. She was glad it was dark. "I don't know if I'd call myself a musician."

"Gotta start somewhere, right?" Emma said.

"Maybe," Charlie said.

The ride to Storybrooke was relatively short. Charlie wondered why she had never heard of it before meeting Henry, considering that it was so close to Portland. She could hear Henry's voice in her head insisting on "the curse" but she was being honest with Emma when she had said she didn't believe in it. Although she was a bit taken aback when a sign proclaiming "Welcome to Storybrooke" seemed to appear out of nowhere on the side of the road. She had been looking out the window for the entire ride, but didn't see the sign until they had almost passed it. Charlie shook her head. She was probably just tired. It had been a long day.

Charlie observed what she could see of Storybrooke in the dark on the short ride to Emma’s apartment. It was just a normal looking small town, nearly identical to countless others that Charlie had passed through while traveling with her parents. It didn’t look like the heart of a sinister curse, although it was a little too cookie-cutter for Charlie’s comfort. While Henry had insisted that Emma was shaking things up, the town seemed a little sleepy to Charlie. She’d have to explore it further later.

They reached the small apartment building quickly and started to unpack the car.

“Emma!” a voice called over their shoulders.

Charlie turned to see that a petite woman with a black pixie cut was speed-walking over to them from the direction of the building. If Emma’s skin was ivory, then this woman was pure porcelain with peach undertones. She was wearing what Charlie could only describe as teacher clothes: a short-sleeved grey blouse, a calf-length floral print skirt, and black ballet flats. While Charlie’s immediate reaction was ‘yikes’, upon further inspection, the woman’s wide, innocent green eyes made the look work for her somehow.

Charlie was a little taken aback by her youth, however. Henry believed that this woman was their grandmother? She looked like she was in her late twenties.

“I saw you out the window,” she explained. “Do you need help carrying anything up?”

She turned to Charlie with a smile.

“I’m Mary Margaret Blanchard, your mom’s roommate,” she held out a hand for Charlie to shake. “It’s very nice to meet you, Charlie.”

“Hi,” Charlie couldn’t help but give a small smile back. The woman’s friendliness was infectious. "I don't have a lot of stuff. Most of my family's stuff went to a storage unit that my parents had arranged in their will....I don't really know how to access that actually."

"We'll figure it out," Emma assured her. "But for now let's just get your stuff upstairs. We'll grab the smaller bags because we have them on top and then we'll come back for your trunk."

Once all of her belongings were in the apartment, Charlie finally took in her surroundings. The loft was somehow both rustic and bohemian and seemed like a place that Charlie would pick out for herself. It was an open floor plan with exposed brick walls that were coated in whitewash with big windows in the living room and kitchen. There was a black metal staircase across from the door leading up to the second floor. A small breakfast bar with mismatched chairs separated the living/dining area from the kitchen. There was an old tube-style TV on a stand that served to divide the area between the two powder blue overstuffed sofas and the beige wooden table with yet more mismatched chairs. There were several small spindly tables with various lamps and knick-knacks on top. It looked like Mary Margaret and Emma had picked up all of their furniture from several different yard sales. Charlie saw an open door leading to the bathroom off the side of the living room and a closed door that she assumed was a bedroom. She could imagine herself living there in her twenties with her artistic friends…well, if she had any friends.

“Your room is on the second floor, Charlie,” Mary Margaret said as she walked up a staircase. "It's pretty bare right now, but you can decorate it however you want!"

Charlie nodded, but felt a small tug in her chest. Emma was right. It did sound like Mary Margaret was ready to let Charlie stay forever. Charlie tried not to feel hope in case Mary Margaret changed her mind, but she brightened a bit by seeing her new room.

These walls were also whitewashed and the bed was full-sized and made up with an old patchwork quilt. There was a white wicker armoire across from the bed with a rectangular framed mirror hanging on the wall above it. The room was small, but there were large windows that would let in a lot of light during the day. It already felt more comforting than the bedroom she inhabited in Portland.

“It’s nice,” she nodded at Emma and Mary Margaret. “Thank you.”

Emma just nodded back while Mary Margaret smiled. It was clear that Emma was not used to playing the hostess. When they had brought all of Charlie's things to the bedroom, the three of them stood awkwardly for a moment.

"We could help you unpack now if you want," Mary Margaret suggested. "Unless you're tired. It can wait 'til tomorrow of course. The bathroom's downstairs if you want to take a shower or a bath! I even have bubble bath stuff if you want!"

Charlie started to fidget uncomfortably.

"Wait, when was the last time you ate something?" Emma asked.

"I had lunch at school," Charlie said after thinking for a moment.

Emma glanced at her watch.

"Shit, it's after nine," she said. "You must be starving."

"Not really," Charlie said with a shrug. She didn't feel hungry at all. Her stomach had been churning since that afternoon. For a week really. She had been walking on eggshells around Judith since she came home from Boston and hadn't had much of an appetite.

"I could pick something up from Granny's," Mary Margaret offered. At Charlie's confused look she clarified, "It's a diner."

"Oh no, that's too much trouble," Charlie said. "I'm really not hungry."

"You've gotta have something," Emma said gently. "Why don't you take a shower or bath or whatever and get in your PJs? I can make some grilled cheese and tomato soup. Super low energy. Both for eating and cooking."

“Okay, I think that would be okay,” Charlie said. 

Emma and Mary Margaret left Charlie to get her pajamas and toiletries together. When Charlie got downstairs, Emma was pouring a can of Campbell’s soup into a pot and Mary Margaret was holding out a warm towel and washcloth “fresh from the dryer!” with a smile. Charlie’s head was spinning while she showered. No one had been this kind to her since her parents had died. She wanted to believe that her life was about to change for the better, but she was afraid to hope. Hoping had never gotten her anywhere before. 

When Charlie returned to the kitchen with her pajamas on and her wet hair braided, Emma was alone and finishing up the cooking. Emma explained that Mary Margaret had gone to bed since she had work in the morning. The two of them ate their dinner in near silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Charlie appreciated that Emma could just sit in quiet; she was too tired to make too much conversation. 

When Charlie’s eyes started to close for a few seconds every time she blinked, Emma gently suggested that she go to bed, she would clean up. Charlie nodded, gave Emma a soft “thank you” and went to her room. She barely managed to pull the covers around her before she fell into a deep dreamless sleep. 

* * *

The next four days were somewhat of a whirlwind. Emma and Charlie ran several errands both in and outside of Storybrooke. Emma took Charlie shopping for clothes, bedroom accessories, and other necessities, including an iPhone. Charlie’s last cell phone had been a prepaid flip phone that her parents had given to her that Judith had taken away years ago. Charlie was terrified that she would drop the new phone and handled it with the utmost gentleness. Emma managed to get Judith to sign legal guardianship over to her, giving her access to Charlie’s school and medical records, as well as access to her parents’ will. Emma enrolled Charlie at Storybrooke High, with the promise that she would start on Monday. They also drove back down to Emma’s apartment in Boston to pack up her belongings. It was a busy week, but Charlie appreciated it. It was better than being alone with her thoughts.

Charlie’s favorite day, however, was her first day in Storybrooke. At about 2:30 in the afternoon, Emma brought Charlie to a playground by the beach. They sat in an old wooden jungle gym that was shaped like a castle. Charlie was confused but Emma just told her to wait. In about fifteen minutes, their purpose became clear. Charlie saw a small figure with a backpack and a red and white scarf walking toward them. He stopped for a moment when he saw them, then broke into a full run. Charlie grinned and jumped off the castle to the sand below. As Henry got closer to her, she saw that he was wearing a smile just as big as hers. He nearly knocked her over when he reached her as he clung to her in a tight hug. Charlie hugged Henry back just as hard and a few tears escaped from her, but she was still smiling. After a minute, Henry finally pulled away from her.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Henry gave a small jump. “I knew Emma would bring you!”

“You were right.” Charlie laughed and wiped away a few tears. 

Henry’s smile faltered as he looked at her more closely. 

“What happened to your eye?” He asked.

“I had a run-in with an evil witch.” Charlie faked a smile. “But it’s okay, I’m never gonna see her again...I’m here to stay.”

“You are?!” Henry’s smile returned. 

“I am.” Charlie’s smile became more genuine at Henry’s excitement.

“This is perfect!” Henry said. “Everything’s coming together. Even sooner than I thought. Now you can be a full-time member of Operation Cobra.”

“Operation Cobra?” Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“It’s what I decided to call the mission,” Henry explained.

“Ah, okay.” Charlie schooled her face into a serious expression. “Good move, naming it something that has nothing to do with the book. Throw everybody off.”

“Exactly,” Henry said with a nod. “Let’s sit in the castle. Emma and I can fill you in on everything that you missed this week.” 

Sitting in the castle with Henry and Emma was the most peaceful moment that Charlie had experienced in the last four years. Listening to Henry talk about fairy tales almost made Charlie believe that he was right about happy endings. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charlie's first mission with Operation Cobra!

On Saturday morning, Charlie was getting dressed when she heard a knock at the door. She heard Emma talking to a man, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. By the time she had finished, she heard Henry enter the loft and the strange man had left. When Charlie came downstairs, Emma had pulled a small pile of clothes out of one of the boxes in the kitchen and was heading toward the stairs herself.

“Charlie,” Emma said. “I have to go do something. It’s an emergency. There’s cold cuts in the fridge for lunch and hopefully I’ll be back before dinner. Just hang out today. You can explore town if you want, but just shoot me a text if you do. When Mary Margaret gets out of the bath, tell her I had to go.” 

Emma tried to go up the stairs, but Charlie blocked her path.

“What’s the emergency?” Charlie asked. 

“Yeah, tell us!” Henry said.

Emma sighed.

“This girl, Ashley, she stole something from Mr. Gold - the pawnbroker,” Emma clarified to Charlie. “She’s only nineteen and pregnant so Mr. Gold didn’t want to get the police involved and ruin her life. He asked me to find her….I just want to help her. She’s in trouble.”

“Oh wow,” Charlie said. “That’s a lot.”

“Wait a minute.” Henry looked thoughtful. “A pregnant girl named Ashley...is she one of the maids at Granny’s?” 

“Yep, that’s her,” Emma said with a nod. “Now will you two let me get dressed? I’m losing time.” 

Charlie stepped aside and Emma jogged up the stairs. Charlie shook her head.

“Is this what Emma does?” Charlie asked Henry. “Rescues damsels in distress? She rescued me Monday and now she’s off to help someone else.”

“Don’t forget Prince Charming!” Henry said. “Remember I told you she helped find him in the woods last week?”

“Right, Prince Charming, me, and  _ then  _ pregnant girl,” Charlie said.

“She’s the savior.” Henry shrugged. “It’s her job.”

“Right, how could I forget?” Charlie cracked a smile. 

“Go get your shoes and a jacket,” Henry said. “We need to help Emma.”

“Umm, she didn’t really look like she wanted help,” Charlie pointed out.

“But she could use it,” Henry argued. “Besides, what else do you have to do today?” 

Charlie sighed loudly.

“Fine,” she agreed. “But write Mary Margaret a note telling her we had to leave.” 

“Deal,” Henry said.

“You also have to be the one to convince Emma to let us come.”

“Double deal.”

This was easier said than done, however. Charlie and Henry followed Emma down the block to her car - Henry pleading with Emma to let them go and Emma firmly telling them to stay. Charlie was starting to think that this was a bad idea. She didn’t want to make Emma angry. 

“We’re just trying to spend time with you!” Henry pleaded.

Emma paused and shook her head with disbelief.

“Oh that is really not fair.” Emma nodded her head toward the yellow bug before getting inside. 

Henry grinned before practically diving into the backseat and motioning for Charlie to follow. Their first stop was Granny’s Diner. Emma suspected that Ruby, one of the waitresses, might have a clue to Ashley’s whereabouts. 

Ruby, as it turned out, was standing outside the diner watching a repairman service her car. She towered over all of them in her very high heels, wore a lot of dramatic makeup, and had red streaks in her dark brown hair. Charlie thought that Ruby looked very cool and glamorous and wondered how she managed to survive serving tables in stilettos all day. Charlie’s old converses hadn’t been very forgiving when she was a waitress in Portland. 

“That’s Red Riding Hood,” Henry whispered in Charlie’s ear. He pulled away and shouted a greeting: “Hi, Ruby!”

“Hey, Henry.” She smiled at him. “And Emma, and…” Ruby trailed off when she saw Charlie. 

“This is Charlie,” Henry said. “She’s my sister!”

“You have  _ two _ kids?” Ruby raised an eyebrow at Emma. 

“Surprise,” Emma said in a monotone voice. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Charlie.” Ruby gave her a smile too. “Welcome to Storybrooke.”

“Thanks,” Charlie said with a shy smile.

Emma cut right to the chase and started asking Ruby about Ashley. Ruby seemed very protective over her friend, even if she spent half the conversation flirting with the handsome repairman. Ruby sent them to Ashley’s ex’s house where Emma learned that the “merchandise” Mr. Gold was so eager to have returned was Ashley’s baby. This led to them returning to Granny’s, Emma sending Henry home, learning of Ashley’s plans to take Ruby’s car to Boston, Henry nearly causing Emma and Charlie to have heart attacks by popping out of the backseat, to them finding Ruby’s car smoking on the side of the road at the town line. 

“I told you bad things happen when people try to leave,” Henry said gravely from the backseat. 

“The three of them scrambled out of the bug. Ruby’s car was empty and they heard a moan of pain coming from the grass on the opposite side of the car. There was a young blonde woman, not much older than Charlie, sitting amongst the weeds. She was holding her very pregnant stomach and crying. 

“My baby’s coming,” she whimpered when she saw them. 

Charlie and Emma lifted Ashley to her feet as gently as they could and helped her into the passenger seat of the bug. Once Charlie Emma, and Henry were also settled in, Emma made a U-turn and sped back into town.

“I can’t go back there,” Ashley cried. “I need to get to Boston!”

“We don’t have that kind of time,” Emma said with a slight chuckle. “Believe me, I know. That baby’s coming  _ soon _ . We need to get you to the hospital.”

“But he’ll take my baby,” Ashley sobbed through a contraction.

“Do you want this baby?” Emma asked. “You have to be sure. It’s a lot of work and you can’t run away. You have to stay.”

“I want my baby,” Ashley nodded, tearful but determined.

“Okay.” Emma nodded back. “I will make sure you can keep that baby. Anyone who wants to be a mother should damn well be allowed to be a mother.”

Charlie was taken aback at Emma’s words. She had said them with such conviction that Charlie believed that Emma  _ could _ protect Ashley from this mysterious Mr. Gold. She  _ did _ protect Charlie from Judith. Maybe Henry was onto something with this whole “Savior” business. While Charlie knew that Emma was definitely determined to help Ashley, she couldn’t help but wonder if Emma was talking about herself. Sure Emma had taken Charlie in - although that could just be a sense of duty - and was sticking around Storybrooke for Henry, but did she want to be their mother? Charlie didn’t think she was ready for that answer.

When they arrived at the hospital, Ashley was quickly placed into a wheelchair and rolled away to the maternity ward. Charlie, Henry, and Emma hung around the waiting room for a few hours until Charlie started to get restless. Hospitals had made her uncomfortable ever since the accident. She excused herself to take a walk.

She decided to take a walk around the block and the fresh air settled her stomach. She was feeling better when she came back around to the hospital’s front entrance. She saw a young man staring at the doors, biting his lip, and clenching a small gift bag so hard that his knuckles were white. 

“Hey,” Charlie called out to him.

The man jumped as if she had woken him out of a trance.

“Hi,” he said.

“You okay?” Charlie asked.

He snorted and shook his head. Charlie looked at him closely and recognized him as Ashley’s boyfriend. Emma had made Charlie and Henry stay in the car while she visited his house, but she had been able to see him from the distance and this was definitely him. 

“You’re Sean, right?” she asked.

“Yeah…” He looked at her with confusion. “Do I know you?”

“No, my name’s Charlie,” she said. “I know Emma though. She spoke to you earlier today?”

“Right,” Sean nodded. “I bet you think I’m a real asshole, right?”

“Do you think you’re an asshole?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t ‘think’,” Sean said. “I  _ know _ .”

“Well, acknowledging your assholeness is the first step to changing,” Charlie said. 

“Are you trying to make me feel better?” Sean gave a humorless laugh. “Because you’re not helping.”

“Hey, you’re the only one who can make you feel better, buddy,” Charlie said. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re an asshole. I think you let your dad make decisions for you instead of following your heart..But I also think you have the ability to change that.”

“What makes you think that?” Sean asked.

“Well, you’re here, aren’t you?” Charlie pointed out. “You brought a present with you. To me, it looks like you’re trying to make a decision for yourself.”

“Keyword - trying,” Sean said.

“Sometimes, trying is all we can do.” Charlie shrugged. “I’m gonna go inside now, but maybe start listening to what your heart has to say instead of what your dad has to say. We all gotta grow up sometime.”

Charlie walked through the doors and hoped that she had helped Sean. On her way back to the waiting room, she passed an older man with a suit and cane. He didn’t seem to notice her, but he had an immensely satisfied expression on his face. Charlie shrugged it off. Maybe he just found out that he didn’t have cancer. She decided to be happy for the mystery man. Not everyone left a hospital with good news. When Charlie made it back to the emergency room, Henry was practically vibrating. 

“Charlie, you just missed it!” he said. “Emma just stood up to Mr. Gold! Ashley can keep the baby!”

“How did you manage that?” Charlie asked Emma. “From what it sounds like, this Mr. Gold guy is pretty fearsome.”

“I’ll owe him a favor.” Emma shrugged, but the expression on her face wasn’t as casual as the gesture. 

“What..kind of favor?” Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“Not sure yet,” Emma said. “But don’t sweat it, kid. The baby’s born! Let’s go see them.”

Emma shuffled Charlie and Henry down the hallway. Charlie couldn’t help but feel a little worried. This whole favor deal sounded very mafia-like to her. Emma was clearly just trying to distract them with the shiny new infant, but Charlie couldn’t question her further since they had arrived at Ashley’s room. Emma assured Ashley that her daughter was her own and they all cooed over the baby for a few minutes before Emma remembered that Henry had to be home before his adoptive mother. They managed to make it just in the nick of time. Henry ran into the large white mansion and then Emma pulled the car around the block before coming to a stop.

“Whew.” Emma let out a breath and then turned to Charlie with a grin. “Some day, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed with a laugh. “Some day.” 

“It’s funny,” Emma said. “Henry said that nothing ever happened in Storybrooke, and I expected it to be this sleepy little town. But it’s way crazier than Boston.”

“I’ve lived all over the country,” Charlie said. “And this is more excitement in one day than three big cities combined.”

“Same here.” Emma laughed again. “It’s crazy.”

Charlie laughed with her.

“So,” Emma started. “I got a job offer yesterday.”

“A crook on the loose?” Charlie asked with wide eyes. 

“It’s actually not a bail bond job,” Emma said. “The sheriff asked me to be his deputy. He was apparently impressed by how I helped find that coma patient.” 

“Wow.” Charlie blinked. “Not as badass as a bail bondsperson, but still pretty cool. Are you gonna take it?”

“I wasn’t sure at first,” Emma admitted. “But after today, I think it could be a good idea. I think there’s a lot more people in this town that need help than I originally thought. But what do you think?”

“Me?” Charlie’s jaw dropped. “Why are you asking me? It’s your career.”

“Well, if you’re gonna be staying with me, it’s gonna affect you. You’re starting school on Monday. You gonna be okay with living with law enforcement? Other kids might not be as thrilled to hang out with you if I’m Deputy Sheriff.”

“Oh.” Charlie bit her lip. No one had seriously asked her opinion about anything since her parents were alive. And especially not for anything serious like this. 

“I think you should do it,” Charlie told her. “It’s a great job. And I never had any friends at my old school anyway so what does it matter? I like being alone.”

“Charlie.” Emma’s face fell.

“I’m not trying to make you feel bad for me,” Charlie said. “Just saying. But yeah, definitely do it.”

“Okay,” Emma said. “I’ll call Graham.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first four chapters! From here on out, I'll be updating one chapter at a time and the chapters will be longer. I'll see you all for the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Monday morning came far too quickly and Charlie battled back nerves during the car ride to school.

“Do I really have to go?” Charlie asked.

“If you don’t want to get arrested for truancy,” Emma replied.

“I’m over sixteen, can’t I just drop out and get my GED?” 

“Speaking as someone who did exactly that, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

“You never finished high school?”

“I actually dropped out after you were born,” Emma explained. “I always hated school and I was sick of being known as the pregnant girl.”

“Yeah, school sucks,” Charlie agreed. “I liked being homeschooled way better.”

“Being homeschooled does sound like the better option,” Emma reasoned. “But I don’t have the resources to do that for you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Charlie shrugged. “But I’d still rather drop out.”

“It doesn’t make things easier,” Emma said. “I didn’t exactly get my life worked out until I was about twenty-five. Before that, I lived a life of crime, went to jail, and had  _ another _ unplanned pregnancy.” Emma cringed when she said that. “Not that I regret either pregnancy! I don’t! I’m glad that you and Henry exist and that you’re both back in my life. But life was  _ really _ hard for me when I was younger and I’d like it to be easier for you. So can you at least finish high school for me? You don’t have to go to college or be some scholar or anything, but at least graduate okay? Please?”

_ Well, when you put it that way. _ Charlie felt a weird flip in her stomach. She didn’t know if it was guilt or sentiment or what, but Emma’s request was pretty reasonable, as was the logic behind it.

“Okay,” Charlie promised. “I’ll finish high school…But I won’t like it!”

“You don’t have to like it.” Emma grinned. “But thank you.”

“Sure,” Charlie shrugged.  

When they got to Storybrooke High School –  _ How original _ , Charlie had rolled her eyes – Emma escorted Charlie to the main office. She awkwardly shook hands with the principal, was handed a schedule, and asked to pick an elective. She chose Chorus; Band was already full. Emma wished her luck and Charlie walked to homeroom. 

Her first few classes weren’t  _ terrible _ , just strange. Everyone stared at her.  _ Everyone _ . Even the teachers. Charlie had known that Storybrooke didn’t get a lot of new faces, but this was ridiculous. Her last class before lunch was Chorus and Charlie stepped into the music room with trepidation. 

There was a middle-aged woman in a purple dress sitting at her desk, writing in her planner. She had sepia skin and, while Charlie could tell from her demeanor that the woman was in her mid-forties, she had no wrinkles. She had wavy blonde hair and hints of a smirk like she was used to ruining people’s lives. Charlie hoped she was wrong about the last part. 

Charlie walked up to the desk while the rest of the class shuffled in. 

“Um, excuse me,” Charlie said when she had reached the teacher. 

“Yes?” the woman looked at her with an expression of faint annoyance. Clearly she wasn’t used to being spoken to first.

“Hi.” Charlie tried to smile. “I’m Charlie Kaye. I’m new to your class.”

The teacher looked at the schedule that Charlie had offered. 

“Ah yes,” she nodded. “I had heard that Storybrooke had some new residents. Your mother has been shaking up the town as of late.”

“Oh, um, yeah, I guess.” Charlie bit her lip awkwardly. “I heard that Storybrooke doesn’t get a lot of visitors.” 

“You’ve got that right, angelfish.” The teacher smirked. “It’s nice to get some fresh meat.”

The teacher stood up and offered her hand for Charlie to shake. 

“You can call me Miss Ocean,” she said. “Welcome to Chorus. Let’s find out your vocal range.”

Charlie followed Ms. Ocean to the piano and sang the scales that Ms. Ocean provided. Charlie felt the entire class’ eyes on her and tried not to let it affect her singing. 

“Well, I would say mezzo soprano,” Ms. Ocean concluded. “Would you feel more comfortable in the soprano section or the alto?”

“Alto,” Charlie said. “I have to really strain to hit the soprano notes, so I’ve found I do better singing alto.”

“Very well,” Ms. Ocean nodded. “You can have a seat next to Ivy.”

Charlie approached the student that Ms. Ocean had gestured to. 

The girl had smooth skin the color of burnt umber and long dreads that were held back in pigtails. Her dark brown eyes were almost black and seemed as if they were observing everything and everyone at once. Charlie had the feeling that Ivy noticed everything, even if she didn’t say so. 

“Hey.” Ivy nodded when Charlie sat down.

“Hey,” Charlie responded. 

Ivy went back to doodling along the edges of her sheet music while Charlie glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She was wearing a big chunky black sweater with people and houses on it in different colors. Charlie wasn’t sure if the sweater was ironic or not, but either way, Charlie thought it was cool that Ivy did her own thing when it came to fashion. 

Charlie glanced at her own outfit. Emma had pretty much bought her an entire new wardrobe that weekend. Charlie liked to be practical when it came to her clothes so she had mostly just picked out plain sweaters, t shirts, and jeans. She had also picked out a pair of functional, black knee high boots and a few different scarves. Charlie did love scarves, but the best part of her outfit hadn’t even been her pick. 

_ That morning Charlie had struggled with what jacket she should wear. Her new pea coat was nice, but the weather was a bit too warm for it, and her old, lighter jacket didn’t really go with her new clothes. Emma had walked past Charlie’s room to see the teenager looking in the mirror with a frown. She returned a minute later with a black leather jacket.  _

_ “Here.” She held the jacket out to Charlie. “I used to wear this when I was your age, but I haven’t used it in forever. Just held onto it, I guess. It’s yours if you want it.”  _

_ The jacket was slightly worn from age and use, but in a way that made it look vintage. Charlie had never had a leather jacket before. She took the jacket, slipped it on, and looked in the mirror. She looked pretty badass. Charlie smiled at her reflection and turned to face Emma who was smiling as well. _

_ “Thank you,” Charlie said. _

_ “No problem,” Emma said with a shrug. “It looks great on you.” _

Charlie shook herself out of the memory and tried to focus on the sheet music in front of her. She could sight-read with no problem, but she could feel eyes on the back of her neck. Charlie glanced around to see some boy staring at her. She made eye contact with him, hoping that would make him look away, but instead he smirked and kept staring. Charlie was uncomfortable throughout the entire class and was glad when she heard the bell ring. Hopefully she could find a different seat for the next class. Charlie was packing up her book bag when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was the same boy from before.

“Hey.” His smirk was getting really irritating.

“Hi.” Charlie was already uncomfortable again. 

“So you’re the girl whose mom had one kid in high school and one in jail.”

“Excuse me?” Charlie glared. 

“Well, the apple usually doesn’t fall far from the tree so I was wondering if you were already pregnant or if you needed some help in that department.”

Charlie felt her blood run hot and her fist was raised without her even realizing it. Before she could actually land the blow, she felt a hand stop her fist.

_ Shit _ . Charlie cringed. She was afraid to look. It was definitely Ms. Ocean and she would be expelled on her first day of school. Emma would be so disappointed. After a second, the hand let go and Charlie turned around expecting the worst.

Except it wasn’t Ms. Ocean. She had already left the room. It was Ivy.

“Hey, Jimmy, remember that time you shit your pants?” she said. 

The boy turned bright red.

“That didn’t happen!” he insisted.

“Hey guys,” Ivy said louder as she turned to the rest of the class. “Remember that time Jimmy shit his pants?”

The entire class burst out laughing and Jimmy looked ready to accept the cold embrace of death. Ivy got extremely close to Jimmy’s face and lowered her voice to a dangerous level.

“Don’t ever speak to her again. Don’t even look at her. Find a new place to sit tomorrow or else.” Ivy then turned to Charlie. “Do you have lunch now?”

Stunned, Charlie nodded.

“Then let’s go. I’m starving.”

 

*

 

“So thank you for that, with that boy,” Charlie said.

“It was nothing,” Ivy shrugged as she ate her fries. “I hate that guy. He always tries to pull that gross misogynistic bullshit with girls and I’m sick of it. No one deserves to be spoken to like that, especially on their first day of a new school.”

“Well, thank you again,” Charlie said. “I owe you one.”

“Give me your cookie and we’ll call it even,” Ivy said. 

Charlie smiled and handed Ivy her cookie. The two girls chattered for the rest of lunch and realized that they had a few other classes together as well. Charlie told Ivy a little bit about her parents and her situation with Emma, although she left out most of the gory details. It turned out that Ivy had a similar situation.

“I don’t know anything about my father, but my mother died when I was a baby,” Ivy explained. “My godmother, Mother Superior, took me in after that, so I live at the convent.” 

“What’s living in a convent like?” Charlie asked. 

“Well, I’ve never lived anywhere else,” Ivy shrugged. “But I guess it kind of sucks. There’s so many rules and everyone keeps pressuring me about declaring my candidacy to become a nun once I turn eighteen.”

“Yikes,” Charlie cringed. “Do you want to be a nun?”

“No.” Ivy looked at the table.

“So then don’t do it,” Charlie said. “Easy as that.”

“Not really,” Ivy said. “What would I even do? The convent is all I’ve ever known.”

“So then isn’t that a reason to explore the world beyond it?”

Ivy just shrugged.

“Well, when do you turn eighteen?” Charlie asked.

“In June,” Ivy said.

“Well, it’s only November,” Charlie pointed out. “You have plenty of time to think about it. And even if you haven’t decided by then, it’s okay. You’ll figure it out eventually.”

“You’re alright, Charlie,” Ivy said with a smile. “I might just keep you around.”

The rest of the day was infinitely better. It was the first time that Charlie actually had someone to talk to at school. There were a few people who tolerated her at her old school in Portland, but none that she would even call acquaintances, let alone friends. It was hard enough being homeschooled your whole life and then starting regular school at thirteen. It was even harder when the whole school knew that you were the only survivor/orphan of a tragic car wreck. That sort of thing tended to drive people away. Here in Storybrooke, however, Charlie had hope that she might actually become friends with Ivy. 

At 3 o’clock, Charlie waved goodbye to Ivy who began the short walk to the convent while Charlie spotted Emma’s yellow bug. 

“How was it?” Emma asked after Charlie had gotten in.

“Well, most of the morning sucked, but I met a girl in Chorus that seems pretty cool.” Charlie left out the part about Jimmy. 

“Oh was that the girl you walked out with?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, her name is Ivy,” Charlie said. “She lives at the convent with her godmother, who’s the head nun or something.”

“Huh,” Emma mused. “I don’t know if that’s cool or not.”

“Me neither.” Charlie chuckled. “She says it’s really strict, but most of the nuns are nice to her. She said that she’s always had a lot of fun with this one nun named Sister Astrid.” 

“But not her godmother?” 

“I don’t know.” Charlie shrugged. “We didn’t talk too much about home life, but it sounds like Mother Superior is kind of a hard ass.”

“That seems to be the norm for parents in this town,” Emma said. “Wait ‘til you meet Henry’s mother.”

“Oh yeah, Henry keeps calling her the evil queen,” Charlie said.

“I’m starting to think he’s not too far off,” Emma said with a laugh.

“Oh no, you too?”

“At first I thought she was just protective, but now she just seems really possessive. She super doesn’t want me here.”

“Yikes.” Charlie cringed. “Maybe she’ll calm down eventually.”

“Hopefully,” Emma said. 

Emma dropped Charlie home before heading back to work. 

“I don’t know if you have a lot of homework or whatever,” she said. “But you don’t have to be stuck here. You can go wherever you want. Just text me to let me know you’re out.”

“Alright, I’ll let you know,” Charlie said. 

By the time Charlie finished her homework, it was already well past sunset and she didn’t want to wander around the unfamiliar streets of Storybrooke in the dark. She decided to catch up on the book she was supposed to be reading for English class instead of dwelling on the fact that she was going to have to go to therapy the next day. One of Emma’s few rules was that Charlie needed to see a therapist, and Charlie had to admit that she was probably right. She should have seen a therapist after the car crash, but Judith refused. Life post-Judith was even more reason to go. 

* * *

“Charlie, welcome,” the therapist said. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Henry talks about you all the time.”

“Hi.” Charlie shook his hand, feeling a bit shy. Did Henry talk about her to everyone? 

“I’m Archie Hopper,” he said. “Why don’t you have a seat?” 

Dr. Hopper gestured toward two couches that were perpendicular to each other. Both couches were faced toward a fireplace where a Dalmatian was sitting on a cushion in front of the hearthstone. Charlie nodded and sat down on one of the couches while Dr. Hopper sat on the other. She stared at the dog with a grin and the dog perked its ears up at her. 

“Is he yours?” Charlie nodded to the dog. 

“Yes, that’s Pongo.” Dr. Hopper smiled. “He’s friendly, but he won’t approach you unless I give him the okay. Do you like dogs?”

“I love dogs!” Charlie said. “Can I pet him?”

“Of course. Pongo, come here.”

The Dalmatian leapt to his feet and gratefully received a pat from his human before turning to sniff at Charlie curiously.

“Hi Pongo,” she whispered, holding her hand out for him to sniff.

Charlie seemed to pass the sniff test as Pongo nuzzled his nose into her hands to be pet. Charlie scratched him behind the ears and giggled as he licked her hand.

“How are you settling into Storybrooke so far?” Archie asked.

“It’s alright.” Charlie shrugged and then continued to give Pongo affection. “Haven’t been here for too long, but it’s better than Portland. No one’s hit me yet,” she broke off with a bitter laugh. “Do we have to talk about that right now? I’m not sure that I’m ready for that today.”

“We’ll have to talk about it eventually,” Archie said. “But today we can talk about whatever you want.”

“I don’t really know what to talk about,” Charlie said.

“What about your adopted parents? Not the accident,” he clarified when Charlie flinched. “You had a life with them before that. What were they like?”

“Well my mom was an event planner,” Charlie started. “So she would travel all over the country to organize big events, both public and private. That’s how she met my dad. He was a musician, and he was performing at a music festival she was working at.

“His parents had died a few years before that, so he had packed up and left his hometown. He kind of just drifted around different cities out west for a while. He said that when he met my mom it was love at first sight,” Charlie smiled. “He said it took him most of the day to work up the courage to talk to her. And when he finally did, he said he knew that he would follow her anywhere. So he did. They exchanged numbers and every time my mom called to book him for an event, my dad dropped everything to play for her. No matter where it was or what he had going on, he dropped everything to go to her. And then eventually they just started to travel everywhere together.”

“That sounds very romantic,” Dr. Hopper said when Charlie had finished.

“Yeah, like a fairy tale,” Charlie agreed. “Not like one of Henry’s stories, but a real fairy tale.”

“What do you think real fairy tales are?” Dr. Hopper asked. 

“Well, not magic,” Charlie mused. “Magic’s not real. If it were, birds would’ve come and pecked my aunt’s eyes out for being awful to me.”

“Goodness!” Archie’s eyes were wide. “I don’t know that story.”

“It’s in some version of Cinderella,” Charlie explained. “I don’t remember if it’s the Grimm or Perrault version, but a bunch of birds peck out the eyes of the stepfamily at the end. Disney left out the best part of the story.”

“Well, if real fairy tales don’t have violent birds in them, what do they have?” 

“Oh right, the original question.” Charlie shook her head. She was always getting sidetracked. “I think that real fairy tales are people finding each other. They can be lovers or family or friends, but when they find each other, they’re home.”

“Do you think that you can be part of a fairy tale?” Archie asked. 

“I was part of fairy tale.” Charlie frowned. “I got to travel the country with two people who loved each other and loved me. It’s over now.” 

“What about a new one?”

Charlie shrugged and started to examine the spots on Pongo’s face.

“Well, Henry found you,” Archie prompted. 

Charlie’s head shot up. She looked at Dr. Hopper with wide eyes.

“He found you and he brought you to Emma,” Archie continued. “And Emma brought you away from a villain. Doesn’t that sound a little like your real life fairy tale?”

“I guess it does.” Charlie let out a short, humorless laugh. 

Maybe Dr. Hopper was right. Charlie’s first fairy tale had ended four years ago, but maybe she was part of another now. Being Henry’s sister could be her new fairy tale. Maybe even her time with her aunt was part of a fairy tale. After all, every heroine in a story has to experience the wrath of a villain before she can be happy. Henry finding her was the happy part of that story and having a brother was the next chapter. Maybe she could even let Emma be a part of her fairy tale someday.

Emma was in the waiting room when Charlie was finished.

“How’d it go?” She asked. 

“It was okay.” Charlie followed Emma out the door. “Certain things were...illuminating.”

“Illuminating, huh?” Emma grinned as she climbed into the bug.

“Yeah, I guess some things just make more sense when you talk with a professional.” Charlie buckled her seatbelt.

“That sounds about right,” Emma reasoned. “Want to go to Granny’s for dinner?” 

“Well since that place is all anyone in this town talks about, I’d like to try it,” Charlie said. 

“Alright,” Emma turned the key in the ignition. “Text Mary Margaret and tell her to meet us there.”

“Hello again, Charlie!” Ruby greeted them when they entered the diner. “Help your mom with any missing persons cases today?”

Charlie didn’t know how she felt about people referring to Emma as her mom. It was the truth, but it felt weird. 

“Um, no,” she said awkwardly. “Just school.”

Ruby laughed and pulled Charlie into a hug. 

“You’re adorable!” 

“Um thanks?” Charlie’s answer was muffled into Ruby’s chest.

“Ruby, she’s not really a hugger.” Emma tried to save her. “And she’s hungry.”

“Sorry sweetie.” Ruby let her go. “Seat yourselves, I’ll bring some menus. Is Mary Margaret coming?”

“Yeah, she’ll be here in a few,” Emma said. 

Emma and Charlie chose a booth and Ruby brought the menus and took their drink orders.

“You alright, kid?” Emma asked when Ruby had left. “I know you’re not a touchy-feely person and Ruby’s a little…enthusiastic. I saw you flinch.”

“It’s alright,” Charlie shrugged. “It threw me off a little, but I knew she was just being friendly. She kind of reminds me of a puppy.”

“Sorry I’m late!” Mary Margaret slid into the booth next to Emma. “I was volunteering at the hospital and lost track of time.”

“Volunteering?” Emma asked with a smirk. “Or visiting David Nolan?”

“Volunteering!” Mary Margaret turned a bright red that suggested otherwise.

“Who’s David Nolan?” Charlie asked.

“Her Prince Charming,” Emma said with a snicker.

“He is not!” Mary Margaret whisper-yelled. She hid her face in her hands and mumbled, “He’s married!”

“Oh the coma patient?” Charlie raised her eyebrows. “But yikes, married. All the good ones are taken, am I right ladies?” 

Emma and Mary Margaret burst into laughter.

“Having dating troubles?” Mary Margaret grinned.

“Nah, that’s just what I hear people say on TV,” Charlie said. “I’m not about the dating life.”

“Good move, kid,” Emma nodded. “Dating at your age isn’t worth it.”

She looked sad. Was she talking about Charlie’s biological father?

Ruby came back with their drinks and took their orders. Charlie wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous so she just ordered a burger with fries, but she did agree to Ruby’s suggestion of waffle fries. Not too long after they had received their meals, Granny herself came out to meet Charlie and ask if she was enjoying her meal. 

“It’s delicious, Granny.” Charlie smiled.

“Glad to hear it, dear.” Granny smiled back. “You’re welcome here anytime.” 

Charlie heard the bell over the door chime as it opened. Granny turned to greet her new customer.

“Hello Henry,” Granny said. “I’ll get your mother’s takeout for you.”

Charlie had whipped her head towards the door as soon as she heard Henry’s name. 

“Charlie!” Henry’s whole face lit up as he rushed towards her. 

Charlie stood up to greet him and he nearly knocked her backwards with his hug. 

“Hi Henry.” Charlie smiled. “How was your day?”

“Boring.” Henry shrugged as he released her. He gave a greeting to Emma and Mary Margaret. “But, Charlie, did you know that the elementary school is right across the street from the high school? We’re right by each other every day!”

“That’ll be pretty cool.” Charlie nodded. “Maybe we can walk home together sometimes.”

“Awesome!” Henry beamed. “This is gonna be the best!” 

“Henry, what is taking so long?” A woman with dark hair, dark eyes, and a dark business suit interrupted them. “I’ve been waiting in the car for several minutes now.” The woman caught a glimpse of Emma. “Oh, now I see. Must you always lead my son astray, Miss Swan?” 

Emma frowned and opened her mouth to respond when the woman finally seemed to notice Charlie.

“And Miss Swan Junior, I presume?” the woman asked.

“Actually, it’s Kaye.” Charlie plastered on a smile. “Charlotte Kaye, but everyone calls me Charlie.” She held out her hand to shake.

The woman’s eyes flickered down to Charlie’s proffered hand and then ignored it.

“I’m Mayor Regina Mills,” she responded coolly. “Henry’s mother.” 

“Yeah, I kind of got that.” Charlie gestured to where Mayor Mills was currently gripping Henry’s shoulder. 

Regina’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t appreciate your tone, Miss Kaye,” she said. “You would do well to show some respect for authority figures.”

“She was just making an observation,” Emma pointed out.

Charlie could tell that Emma was dying to get up in the mayor’s face. It seemed that the only thing stopping her was the fact that Mary Margaret was sitting next to her, blocking her exit. Charlie guessed that this was a strategic move on Mary Margaret’s part. 

“You’re another one that could learn some respect for authority, Miss Swan. The Sheriff’s Deputy should know that. Try and impart the values that you lack onto your spawn. After all, don’t we want our children to do better than us?”

With that, Mayor Mills turned Henry around, snatched the takeout bags from Granny with an order to put it on her tab, and left the diner. Charlie realized that she was still standing and that every patron in the diner was staring at her. She quickly sat down.

“Charlie?” Emma looked at her with concern. 

“Wow,” Charlie said. “She’s  _ kind of  _ a bitch.”

Emma snorted and Mary Margaret covered her mouth to hide a giggle. 

“Guess she won’t be handing me the key to the city anytime soon.” Charlie popped a fry in her mouth.

“Probably not,” Emma agreed. 

* * *

Charlie let out a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her. It was Friday afternoon, she had no homework, and she finally had some free time on her hands. Emma was at work, Mary Margaret was volunteering at  _ something _ like the good soul that she was, and Charlie had the loft to herself for the first time since she’d moved in. She smiled when she realized that she could let her guard down for once.

Charlie ran to her bedroom and put her pajamas on. Then she brought her laptop to the living room and opened iTunes.  _ No headphones today.  _ She giggled. She browsed a few websites before deciding that it was an excellent time for hot chocolate. Charlie had just put the kettle on when she heard the opening notes to a certain song she hadn’t listened to in a while. 

“Throwback!” she yelled. Charlie immediately started to sing and dance along. It had been a while since she had her own personal concert. Charlie was screaming the lyrics in glee until she turned around to see Emma staring at her in the doorway. Charlie froze, mortified, while Emma stared back at her in shock. Neither party moved as Kelly Clarkson’s voice echoed around the loft. Charlie had just turned around to shut off the music in embarrassment when she heard Emma’s voice:

_ “But Since U Been Gone _

_ I can breathe for the first time” _

Charlie whipped her head around to stare at Emma in amazement. Emma smiled at her as she continued to sing as loudly as Charlie had been. Charlie smiled back and joined her for the bridge. They both laughed as they continued to scream the lyrics and jump around the apartment until the song ended. Charlie turned the volume down.

“I thought you were working?” she asked.

“Well yeah.” Emma shrugged. “But I knew you had off and that Mary Margaret was out. Besides, it’s nothing I can’t finish tomorrow. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight?”

“Umm…okay.” Charlie smiled shyly. “What did you have in mind?”

“Whatever you want to do,” Emma replied.

Two hours later, Mary Margaret returned home to find a large amount of freshly baked cookies on the counter and her two housemates dancing around in their pajamas and singing very off-key. 

Mary Margaret grinned from ear to ear. It was wonderful to see her friend finally bonding with her daughter. Poor Charlie had been so closed-off and quiet in the two weeks she’d been living with them. It was understandable, given everything she had been through, but Mary Margaret had hoped that Charlie would eventually become more comfortable around her mother. She wasn’t sure what she had missed during the last two hours, but she was glad that it had happened. 

Charlie suddenly noticed that Mary Margaret was home. Instead of clamming up like Mary Margaret had expected to happen, Charlie merely ran over and pulled her into the living room with them. Mary Margaret smiled even wider if it was possible and the three women sang together.

* * *

Charlie left Storybrooke High’s campus to see Henry frantically waving to her across the street in front of Storybrooke Elementary. She had gestured for him to stay put and then quickly crossed the street to meet him.

“There’s important Operation Cobra business afoot,” Henry said before Charlie could even open her mouth to say ‘hello’.

“Oh really?” Charlie widened her eyes appropriately. “Do tell.”

“You heard about the rockslide at the old mines, right?” he asked.

“Yep, I certainly felt that little earthquake last night.” 

“There’s definitely something down there!” Henry was practically hopping. “My mom picked something up and put it in her pocket and insisted it was nothing.  _ And  _ she said they were gonna pave over the site. She’s hiding something, I know it!”

“Henry,” Charlie started gently. “I think this is more of a public safety concern than Operation Cobra business.” 

“Ugh, you don’t believe me either,” Henry said with a pout. “I thought you were on my side.”

“Buddy, I  _ am _ on your side,” Charlie insisted. “But we’ve gotta look at the facts. Sometimes things like this just happen. No supernatural forces involved.”

“You’re right,” Henry said.

Charlie did a double take. Usually Henry was so stubborn about Operation Cobra.

“Want to walk me to my mom’s office?” he asked.

Charlie nodded and followed Henry to City Hall.

“Let’s look at the facts,” Henry said. “Did Emma do anything out of the ordinary last night?”

“What do you mean ‘out of the ordinary’?” Charlie raised an eyebrow. 

“Did she make any big decisions or go through any big changes?”

“Well, I know she finally finished her paperwork for her new job,” Charlie said. “She got her badge last night.”

“Right!” Henry said. “I noticed it last night at the mines. She’s officially Deputy Sheriff now. That’s it! Every time Emma puts down roots in Storybrooke something happens.”

“What?” Charlie asked.

“When Emma decided to stay in Storybrooke, the old clock above the library started ticking. It’s  _ never _ ticked for my entire life, and when I asked some adults they said they never remembered a time when it worked. Emma made time start to move forward again. Now that she started a job, there’s a rockslide at the mines. It  _ can’t _ be a coincidence. The curse is weakening. Emma’s changing things because she’s the Savior.” 

“That  _ is _ kind of suspicious,” Charlie agreed cautiously. “ _ But _ what could possibly be down there?”

“I don’t know.” Henry shrugged. “But I’m gonna find out.”

“Henry.” Charlie stopped walking. She turned Henry so that she could look into his eyes. “You’re not thinking of going down there, are you?”

“Of course!” Henry grinned. “You in?”

“Henry!” Charlie gave his shoulders a little shake. “You  _ can’t _ go down there! It’s dangerous.” 

“Charlie, listen -” Henry started before she cut him off.

“No, Henry,  _ you _ listen. This is not a game. That’s a situation that can get you seriously hurt. Do  _ not _ go down there.”

“I’m gonna talk to Archie about it at my session tomorrow,” Henry said. “I’ll see what he thinks.”

Charlie let out a sigh of relief and finally released his shoulders. She gave him a little nudge to continue walking. 

“I think that’s a great idea,” Charlie said. “Definitely talk to Archie.”  _ He’ll put a stop to this _ , she thought to herself. 

“So what Hogwarts house are you in?” Henry asked. 

Charlie shook her head in confusion. Wow, Henry flip-flopped fast. But she was grateful that he had dropped the mine situation. 

“Gryffindor of course,” Charlie said. “What about you?”

“Hufflepuff, definitely,” Henry answered. 

“Nice,” Charlie said. “The common room is right near the kitchen. Perfect for midnight snacking.”

“I know, right?” Henry said. 

“How was school today?” Charlie asked.

Henry opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted.

“Henry! Hurry up and get inside, you have homework!”

Charlie hadn’t realized that they had reached City Hall. Mayor Mills walked down the steps of the building toward the two siblings. Charlie tried not to roll her eyes. 

“Bye Charlie.” Henry sighed as he walked up the steps into the building.

“See you later, Henry,” Charlie called after him. His sad expression at being forced to leave had tugged on her heartstrings.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be, Miss Kaye?” The mayor snapped. 

“Not particularly, considering school is over.” Charlie shrugged.

“Well, don’t let me catch you loitering again.” Mayor Mills turned to walk back inside. 

“Sure, thing, Mommy dearest.” Charlie quickly turned and speed-walked in the opposite direction. She certainly wasn’t sticking around to see the mayor’s reaction to that.

The next afternoon, Charlie was playing around on her keyboard when she heard a commotion coming from the lower level of the loft. She stopped playing and listened. She heard sobbing and Emma and Mary Margaret comforting someone. She went downstairs and saw Henry sitting on the couch with Emma, crying into her chest. Mary Margaret was putting the kettle on for cocoa. Charlie glanced to the two women for an explanation but they were both as confused as she was. 

“Henry?” Charlie asked tentatively. 

He gave her a quick glance before burying his face into Emma’s shirt again. Charlie handed him the box of tissues and sat on the floor in front of them. When Mary Margaret brought a mug over to him, he blew his nose and then accepted the cocoa with a shaky ‘thank you’.

“Kid, what happened?” Emma asked. 

“Archie thinks I’m crazy too,” he said with a hiccup. 

“What?!” Charlie, Emma, and Mary Margaret spoke in unison. 

“He said that the fairy tales are becoming a psychosis. And that if I don’t stop with Operation Cobra, I’m gonna get locked away.”

Mary Margaret gasped and Emma grit her teeth. Charlie’s jaw dropped open in shock. She hardly knew Archie, but this didn’t sound like something he would say. She had heard that Archie always encouraged Henry’s imagination. He had even indulged Charlie’s more grown up view of fairy tales. Where was this talk about ‘psychosis’ coming from?

“Are you sure that’s what he said?” Charlie asked gently. 

“That’s  _ exactly _ what he said,” Henry said. 

Charlie locked eyes with Emma. Emma’s eyes told her she was right. Something was terribly wrong, but they needed to comfort Henry first. When Henry had finally calmed down and stopped crying, Emma decided to drive him to the mayor’s office. Charlie offered to come with them, but Emma told her to stay behind. Emma wanted to talk to Archie after she dropped Henry off, Mary Margaret was going back to the hospital to volunteer, and Charlie decided to take a walk. About an hour later, Charlie got a phone call from Emma.

“Henry’s missing,” Emma said frantically.

“ _ Again?! _ ” Charlie ran her hands through her hair. “How? Didn’t you just drop him off at the mayor’s office?”

“Yeah,” Emma said. “He must’ve dipped after I drove away. Archie thinks he’s going to the mines, what do you think?”

Charlie cringed.

“That’s definitely where he’s going,” Charlie said. “He was talking about it yesterday. He said he was gonna talk to Archie about it today, but I guess that didn’t go over so well. I figured Archie would talk him out of it -”

“And that just made it worse,” Emma finished. “Okay I’m headed there now.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Charlie said. 

The situation was even more of a mess when Charlie arrived. Archie had run into the mines after Henry and the entrance had caved in. The mayor, the sheriff, and various emergency personnel were there. Emma and the mayor spent some time arguing and then trying various ways to get into the mines. Charlie stood off to the side with Ruby who was holding Pongo’s leash and, once again, flirting with Billy the mechanic. Eventually, with the help of Pongo, Emma was able to uncover an air shaft and was going to be lowered down in a harness to grab Henry and Archie. They almost lost Archie to an unstable elevator shaft, but he managed to hang onto Emma and eventually all three of them were pulled to safety. 

Mayor Mills smothered Henry in hugs and kisses while Charlie made her way over to them. Emma, finally freed from the bungee cord, ran over to Henry. Charlie watched as Emma smiled in relief and reached out to Henry. Regina quickly pulled him away and ordered Emma to start clean up. Emma’s face crumbled and Charlie felt her heart drop into her stomach.

She walked to Emma’s side and squeezed her hand gently. Emma jumped at the sensation and Charlie saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes before Emma blinked them away. Emma squeezed Charlie’s hand back and gave her a tight smile. 

“Well, there’s a lot of work to do,” Emma said, her voice sounding hoarse. “I better get started.” She finished unhooking the harness gear. “Will you bring this back to Billy while I direct personnel?”

Charlie nodded and did so. She managed to find some tasks to help out and keep busy. Eventually, Henry managed to sneak away from his mother and made his way over to Charlie. Charlie dropped everything to crush him into a hug.

“Hi,” he managed to squeak out.

Charlie released him from the hug. Her grin of relief turned to a scowl.

“Henry, why would you do that?!” She nearly shouted at him. 

“I told you,” Henry said. “I had to find proof that this was Operation Cobra business.”

“And did you?” Charlie crossed her arms.

“Yes!” Henry grinned and reached into his backpack. “Look!” He brandished a piece of broken glass with wrought iron woven into it. 

“It’s...a piece of garbage.” Charlie raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s  _ not _ a piece of garbage.” Henry rolled his eyes. “Here, hold this.” He put the glass in Charlie’s hands while he rifled through his backpack again. He pulled out  _ Once Upon A Time _ and flipped through the pages before handing it over to Charlie. “See?” 

Charlie traded the glass for the book and studied the illustration. Snow White in her glass coffin. The coffin was not just plain glass like in the Disney movie. It was covered in wrought iron designs that looked like tree branches encasing the sleeping princess. Charlie glanced back at the piece of glass in Henry’s hand. 

“Don’t you see?” His eyes were pleading with her. “It’s part of Snow White’s coffin. It must be down there!” 

“I don’t know Henry,” Charlie said. “I don’t think that’s enough evidence just because it looks similar. Could just be a piece of debris.”

“Why would there be glass in a mine?” Henry asked.

“Lanterns?” Charlie shrugged. “From the old days, before they had flashlights.”

“Of course you don’t believe me,” Henry grumbled as he took the book back from her.

“I don’t  _ not _ believe you,” Charlie said. “You could be on the right track, but this  _ alone _ doesn’t prove the theory. We need more hard evidence.”

“You think we should go back in the mines!” Henry’s eyes lit up.

“No!” Charlie shouted.

Henry jumped back in surprise. 

“Sorry.” Charlie took a deep breath. “Not the mines. And I also don’t mean you should just throw yourself into every dangerous situation that comes along. Listen, for Operation Cobra, we’re part of a team, right?”

Henry nodded.

“So when you’re on a team, you don’t just throw yourself into missions alone,” Charlie said. “That’s how you get hurt. Harry Potter never went on adventures without Ron and Hermione, right?”

“In  _ Deathly Hallows _ , Harry went alone to the forest to face Voldemort.” Henry crossed his arms with a smirk, like he had won. “Because he knew Ron and Hermione would try to stop him.”

“And then he fucking DIED!” Charlie’s voice went up several octaves. 

Henry’s eyes widened at hearing her curse.

“Shit, I’m sorry -  _ shit _ .” Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say bad words in front of you. But here’s the thing, Henry. You’re not a horcrux. If you die, you won’t come back like Harry.”

“Oh, right,” Henry finally admitted.

“Right,” Charlie agreed. “So next time you decide to go on an adventure, please just call me or Emma first, okay? That’s what we’re here for.” 

“Okay,” Henry conceded. “I’ll call you, Emma, or Archie.”

“Things are all good with Archie now?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah.” Henry smiled. “We talked it out down in the elevator shaft. He apologized and we came to an understanding.”

“Good.” Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced back at their surroundings and realized Mayor Mills was occupied and Emma wasn’t. 

“Hey,” she said to Henry. “Why don’t you go see Emma now that your mom’s distracted? I know she’s dying to talk to you.” 

“Okay.” Henry grinned and ran over to Emma.

Charlie smiled as she watched Emma pull him into a giant hug. 

“You’re really good with him, you know?” A voice said from behind her.

Charlie turned around to see Ruby twisting the cap off a bottle of beer. It seemed like everyone around them was celebrating. 

“You think so?” Charlie asked.

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t believe it.” Ruby gave her a soft smile. “Henry was really lonely before you and Emma came around. I think you guys are good for him.”

“Thank you.” Charlie smiled back at her. 

“Is Henry your only sibling?” Ruby asked.

“Yep.” Charlie nodded.

“And you guys just met a few weeks ago?” 

“That’s right,” Charlie confirmed.

“You’re a natural big sister then,” Ruby said. “Come over with us and celebrate. I can’t give you a bottle because the sheriff’s around, not to mention Emma would kill me even if she weren’t deputy, but you can come hang out with us. And I’ll give you a sip of my beer when no one’s looking.”

“Really?” Charlie’s eyes lit up. 

Ruby looked around and then handed Charlie the bottle. Charlie took a sip and then cringed. The beer warmed her throat going down, but it was bitter. 

Ruby laughed.

“That’s gross.” Charlie handed the bottle back. 

“I’ll find you something better when you’re twenty-one,” Ruby said with a laugh. “Now come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” 

It was strange for Charlie to think that she would still know Ruby in four years’ time. She had never stayed anywhere with her parents for more than a few months and had never made any friends. She had stayed in Portland for four years, but hadn’t made friends with anyone there either and was dying to escape as soon as possible. She had never thought about a future there. Could there be a future in Storybrooke for her? She decided not to dwell on it as she followed Ruby back into the crowd. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ivy is Pollyannaism's OC.


	6. Chapter 6

Charlie was at her locker at the end of the school day when Ivy approached her.

“Hey!” Ivy said.

“Hi.” Charlie gave what she hoped was a smile. She was still new to this friendship thing. Were she and Ivy friends? They sat next to each other in class and ate lunch together. Did that count?

“So you know what I’m craving?” Ivy asked.

“No?” Charlie switched books from her backpack to her locker.

“A milkshake and fries,” Ivy said. “I’m gonna go to Granny’s.”

“Oh, that sounds cool,” Charlie said. Why was Ivy telling her this?

“Do you..want to come?” Ivy asked slowly.

_Oh_ . Charlie blinked in shock. _Is this an invitation?_

Back in Portland, Charlie had never hung out with any of her classmates outside of school unless she had been assigned to a group project. She hated group projects because her classmates would typically ignore her ideas, but leave her with disproportionate amounts of work anyway. Plus, they forced her to be social with people she hated. Group projects were the sole reason Charlie had a Facebook account to begin with; it was easier to get in contact with the group through the message system and private pages. In retrospect, Charlie thought to herself that group projects turned out to be a good thing since Facebook made it so easy for Henry to find her. Come to think of it, she should probably switch her mostly neglected account to private.

Charlie realized that Ivy was still waiting for an answer and shook herself out of her thoughts.

“Oh, um, sure,” she said. “Let me just tell Emma.”

Charlie finished packing her backpack and then sent Emma a text letting her know she was going to Granny’s. The two girls walked off campus when they heard a voice calling their names.

“Hi Charlie, hi Ivy!” Henry ran up to them.

“Hi Henry,” the girls greeted in unison.

“Where are you guys going?” Henry asked.

“We’re getting milkshakes at Granny’s,” Ivy told him.

“Can I come?” Henry asked.

“Isn’t your mom waiting for you?” Charlie looked around for the infamous black Mercedes.

“No, she has meetings today,” Henry said.

“Well, in that case, come on,” Charlie ruffled his hair. “I’ll treat you.”

The three of them walked to Granny’s with Henry telling them about his day. Charlie was shocked to see how engaged Ivy was with him. Most teenagers weren’t invested in kids they weren’t related to.

“So, does everyone in Storybrooke just know each other?” Charlie asked when Henry paused for breath. They had just arrived at Granny’s.

“Sort of.” Ivy shrugged. “But Henry and I go way back.”

“Really?” Charlie furrowed her eyebrows.

“Yeah, Ivy used to babysit me!” Henry grinned.

“How come you never brought this up before?” Charlie asked.

“You never asked,” Henry and Ivy said in unison before laughing.

“O...kay.” Charlie said.

“It was a long time ago,” Ivy said. “Henry was just a baby.”

“So you babysat him when you were seven?” Charlie was even more confused now.

“No, I was older,” Ivy insisted.

“That...doesn’t make sense,” Charlie said.

“Oh, well then, I guess Henry must’ve been older,” Ivy mused.

“No,” Henry said. “It was for a long time. From when I was a baby until I was a little kid. I got bigger, but you stayed the same age the whole time. You just don’t remember because of the curse.”

“Henry, Ivy couldn’t have been the same age,” Charlie started. Great, now Ivy wasn’t going to invite her places anymore.

“Oh, maybe you’re right,” Ivy interrupted. She gave Charlie a discrete wink. “I must be remembering wrong.”

Ivy changed the subject then and Charlie relaxed a bit. The three of them were halfway through their milkshakes when Mayor Mills barged into Granny’s, slamming the door open like she owned the place. Charlie suppressed a groan and put on a smile instead. The mayor stormed over to their table.

“Good afternoon, Mayor Mills,” Charlie said. “Would you like to join us for a milkshake?”

“I most certainly would not,” she hissed as she picked up Henry’s backpack. “Come on, Henry, it’s time to go home.”

She tugged him by the hand out of the booth. Charlie stood up as well.

“At least let him finish his milkshake, Mayor Mills,” Charlie pleaded.

“Henry’s not allowed to have chocolate.” She crossed her arms.

“Since when?” Henry mumbled.

The two women ignored this.

“Is Henry also not allowed to have fun?” Charlie snapped.

“I’m glad you think that life is all fun and games, Miss Kaye. It’s nice to see that you squander Deputy Swan’s money on milkshakes and whatever other ‘fun’ thing you desire. You’re a burden to her _and_ to the hard-working taxpayers of Storybrooke who pay her salary. Perhaps you should do something constructive with your time rather than lazing about the town and getting my son into trouble.”

“Mom –,” Henry tried to protest.

“ _Don’t_ start, Henry,” she scolded and pulled him out of the restaurant.

Charlie could feel everybody’s eyes on her – _again_ – but she didn’t care. She remained standing, fists clenched at her sides, blood pounding in her ears, as she stared at the door where the mayor had pulled her brother away from her. Again.

“Charlie?” Ivy put a hand on her shoulder.

Charlie flinched away from her.

“Are you okay?” Ivy asked.

“I’m fine!” Charlie snapped.

Ivy took a step back and Charlie cringed.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie told her. “She just really pissed me off.”

“I can see that,” Ivy said. “But don’t let her get to you. She doesn’t know you.”

“You’re right,” Charlie agreed. “She doesn’t.”

Charlie scanned the room for Granny. She was at the counter, resetting the coffee pot like there wasn’t just a confrontation in her place of business. Charlie walked up to the counter.

“Excuse me, Granny?” she said.

“How can I help you, Charlie?”

“Are you hiring?”

“What?” Granny looked as if she had never been asked that question in her life. As if the entire restaurant staff had always just _been_ there.

“I’d like to work for you,” Charlie hurtled on. “I was a waitress back in Portland so I have experience. I’ll give you the restaurant’s number. My old boss will tell you that I’m a dedicated worker and a good waitress.”

“Well, we could use an extra part-time waitress,” Granny mused aloud. “Ever since Ashley had the baby, we’ve been short-staffed around here. Would you be willing to work weekends?”

“Absolutely,” Charlie nodded.

“Well Ruby’s always looking for more weekend nights off. And she loathes Sunday brunch. Plus, I’m sure the other girls would like some more schedule flexibility. You’re hired. Come in Friday after school and we’ll start your training.”

“Thank you, Granny!” Charlie beamed. She couldn’t believe that had worked!

“Of course dear,” Granny nodded at her. “Now go finish your milkshake before it turns to mush.”

A few hours later, Charlie was playing around with the sound effects on her keyboard when there was a knock on her bedroom door.

“Come in,” she called.

“Hey.” Emma opened the door, crossed her arms, and leaned against the frame.

“Hey,” Charlie said. “How was work?”

“Pretty boring, except for one phone call I got at the office this afternoon.” She raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of phone call?” Charlie tilted her head.

“A phone call from Granny. You asked her for a job?”

“Oh, um, yeah.” Charlie swallowed. “I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay.” Emma shrugged. “I told Granny that I’m fine with it. Do whatever you want. But you don’t _need_ a job right now. I’m okay with you just focusing on school and making friends. I don’t mind giving you an allowance for whatever you need.”

“I know.” Charlie gave her a small half-grin. “I just want to feel like I’m doing something constructive, ya know? Like not wasting my time, and not having to depend on you for every little thing.”

“Is this about your argument with Regina?” Emma sighed.

Charlie cringed.

“Granny told you about that too?”

“Oh yeah.” Emma frowned now. “And believe me, I’ll be having some words with Madame Mayor. She had no right to say those things to you – none of which are true, by the way. Besides, I’m not gonna let _anyone_ talk to you like that and get away with it. I don’t care who they are.”

“Please don’t confront her, Emma,” Charlie begged.

“And why not?” Emma demanded.

“Because if she knows that she got to me, she wins,” Charlie reasoned. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me. I appreciate it, but I’m a big girl now. I can tie my own shoes and everything.”

Emma grinned at the last sentence.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I can give her a verbal smackdown that she’ll never forget. You can even record it and put on YouTube if you want.”

“I’m sure.” Charlie smiled. “Besides, how funny will it be when she walks into Granny’s and I hand her a menu?”

 

*

 

Charlie was working a Saturday shift on her second day of training.

“Charlie!” Ruby ran into the kitchen.

Charlie was placing some drinks on a tray for one of her tables.

“What’s up?” Charlie asked.

“I’ll take those drinks to Table Seven. You _need_ to take a cup of coffee to Table Nine.”

“Isn’t that your table?” Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Why are we suddenly switching tables?”

“Mayor Mills is at Table Nine, you _need_ to be her server today!” Ruby gave a wolfish grin.

“Oh my God.” Charlie laughed. “Thank you, Ruby. How does my hair look? I want to look good when I shock her.”

“Your hair is great, babe, but here.” Ruby took out a tube of lip gloss and swiped it over Charlie’s lips before she could protest.

“Ruby, what the hell?!” Charlie sputtered.

“You needed some glitter.” Ruby laughed. “Now go shine, superstar!”

“Here’s your coffee, Mayor Mills.” Charlie set the cup and saucer on the table. “Are you ready to order?”

Mayor Mills looked up from her menu and did a double take.

“What on earth are you doing, Miss Kaye?” she demanded.

“I work here now.” Charlie’s smile wasn’t forced around the woman for once.

“You what?” The mayor’s eyes were wide.

“I work here now.” Charlie tried not to laugh. “Are you having trouble hearing? Maybe you should talk to your doctor about getting hearing aids. I’ve heard that a lot of people start to become hard of hearing when they get older.”

“Why do you work here?” Mayor Mills pressed.

“Well, I figured that I should do something constructive with my time and work toward someday becoming a financially independent, hard-working taxpayer of Storybrooke. Wouldn’t you agree that’s a worthy use of my time after school?”

“I’ll have the cobb salad.” Mayor Mills snapped her menu closed and shoved it in Charlie’s face.

“Sure thing, Mayor Mills.” Charlie wrote it down on her pad. “I’m so glad that we’ll get to see each other more often now.”

* * *

Charlie came home from work the following Friday night to see Emma washing dishes.

“Hey kid,” Emma greeted her. “Go wash up and I’ll heat up dinner for you.”

Charlie nearly dropped her backpack. She hadn’t heard that phrase in a long time. She thanked Emma and went to go put her backpack away and wash up. When she returned, Emma was putting a plate of food on the table in front of Charlie’s usual chair and taking a seat across from her. Charlie sat down too.

“So how was work?” Emma asked.

“It was good,” Charlie said. “How about you?”

“Pretty good,” Emma answered.

“So I got my first paycheck,” Charlie said.

“That’s great!” Emma gave her a warm smile. “What are you gonna buy?”

“Oh, um, I’m not sure yet,” Charlie said. “But how much do I owe you for rent?”

Emma laughed. Charlie didn’t.

“Wait.” Emma stopped laughing. “You’re not serious are you?”

“Um, yeah,” Charlie said. “Judith used to make me give her $300 a month because I had to ‘contribute’.”

“Are you kidding me?” Emma clenched her fist. “How much were you making a week?”

“Like $90 after taxes,” Charlie said.

“That’s such bullshit.” Emma was turning red. “Who the hell makes a teenager pay them rent?”

“She said I had to earn my keep,” Charlie said with a shrug.

“Didn't she ever hear of chores?” Emma asked.

“I had chores too,” Charlie said. “I had to dust and vacuum every week, and clean the bathroom and kitchen.”

“Dust and vacuum what?” Emma asked. “Just your room, right?”

“Well, the whole house.”

“Did she make you clean her room?”

“Yeah.” Charlie looked down at her food.

“What the fuck did _she_ do?” Emma’s voice was very quiet.

“She worked,” Charlie said quietly. “And sometimes she cooked.”

“Did you cook the rest of the time?” Emma asked.

“Not really,” Charlie said. “I don’t know how. Just like pasta and jar sauce and Ramen and mac and cheese. You know, easy stuff. So basically when she decided she just wanted to come home and have a bowl of cereal, I was on my own.”

“Did she do laundry or did you have to do it too?”

“Well, she was the only person allowed to touch the machines,” Charlie explained. “She said I would ruin them if I used them. So I could only do laundry when she was home. I would put my laundry in and then she would turn the machine on.”

“What the _fuck_?” Emma whispered.

“Yeah…” Charlie said.

Emma took a deep breath and then pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You don’t have to give me any money, Charlie,” Emma said. “Spend it on yourself please. And around here, we share the chores. Just keep your room clean, pick up after yourself, and Mary Margaret and I will tell you when we need help with everything else. We’ll rotate jobs, okay?”

“Are you sure?” Charlie asked. “I really don’t mind. You guys were so nice to take me in and -”

“I’m sure,” Emma cut her off. “We want you to have a life, okay? Kids need to rest and have fun. I make enough money to cover our side of the rent and I want you to have your own spending money. Besides, like I said earlier, if you ever want to quit your job, I’ll give you an allowance. And even with the job, _please_ don’t be afraid to ask me for money, okay?”

“Okay.” Charlie couldn’t look at Emma. She felt her eyes welling up.

“Hey.” Emma reached across the table and squeezed Charlie’s shoulder.

Charlie looked up at her and felt the tears finally fall.

“What that woman did to you was _wrong_ , okay?” Emma said. “It wasn’t normal and you didn’t deserve it. Mary Margaret and I don’t expect all that from you, at least not before you’re a real adult and have real financial stability. Just, focus on being a kid, okay?”

Charlie nodded and Emma handed her a napkin to wipe her eyes.

“You deserve to enjoy yourself, Charlie.”

* * *

 

Storybrooke was fairly easy to navigate due to its small size. Charlie had learned her way around town in less than two weeks. She had passed the sheriff’s station many times, but this was her first time actually visiting.

Charlie stood in the lobby for several minutes with two ice cream cups in hand. All she had to do was walk down the hall and knock on the door. Why was she so nervous? It was just ice cream, and now it was starting to drip all over her hands. She had waited too long. Charlie licked the melted chocolate and vanilla off her wrists, took a deep breath, and walked down the hall. She knocked on the door with her elbows and heard Emma’s voice tell her to “come in”. Charlie looked down at the ice cream cups.

“I can’t,” Charlie called.

“Charlie?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said.

She heard a chair scoot away from a desk and then several footsteps coming toward her. The door opened to reveal Emma’s slightly confused face.

“What are you doing here?” Emma stepped aside to let her in.

“Well, it was two-for-one at Any Given Sundae so.” Charlie held out the two ice cream cups toward Emma. “I didn’t know if you’d want vanilla or chocolate so I got both. Your choice.”

“Thanks.” Emma smiled and took the chocolate. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

Charlie nodded and dug her spoon into her own cup of ice cream. Emma sat down at her desk and started to dig in, while Charlie glanced around the room. Across from Emma’s desk were two jail cells that were currently empty. There was a blue sofa placed against the wall under large windows on one side of the office and a wall with height measurements and a camera pointed at it on the other side. Behind Emma’s desk were two more desks and behind them was an office enclosed by all glass walls. Charlie guessed that it was the sheriff’s office, although she couldn’t see the point of having a separate office if the walls were transparent. Each desk had a bulky white desktop computer that Charlie hadn’t seen in use anywhere since 2002.

“You know, you can have a seat, kid.” Emma’s voice broke through Charlie’s observations.

Charlie saw that Emma was gesturing with her spoon to a chair in front of her desk. Charlie nodded and took a seat.

“So, no perps today?” Charlie pointed to the empty jail cells.

“Well, we just released this guy Leroy after a brief stay for public drunkenness, so I’m filling out the paperwork now. The guy’s in here all the time for the same stuff though so I don’t see why we don’t just photocopy the paperwork and change the dates. But Graham says that’s ‘not proper protocol,” Emma said the last three words in a terrible Irish accent.

Charlie hadn’t met Graham yet - she had only spied him from a distance at the mines - but she was sure his accent didn’t sound like _that_.

“That’s sad about Leroy,” Charlie said. “It sounds like he has a real problem.”

“Yeah,” Emma agreed. “Graham says he’s been trying to convince him to go to rehab for years, but he won’t go.”

“I guess you can’t make people go,” Charlie remarked.

“I guess so.” Emma sighed. “But, this is depressing. How was school?”

“Alright.” Charlie shrugged. “There’s a parent-teacher conference coming up after Thanksgiving. I have a notice in my bag for you.”

“Just hold onto that until I get home and I’ll look it over. Got anything to confess ahead of time?”

“Not really,” Charlie said. “The school called you those two times I tried to skip and I didn’t try it again after that, mostly because Granny won’t let me. Back in Portland, my old boss didn’t really question me showing up for shifts in the middle of the day. Granny sent me back when I tried it here.”

“Well, Granny seems a little more concerned about her employees’ well-being than your old boss,” Emma said. “The last one didn’t even notice that you were coming in with bruises all the time.”

Emma looked like she was ready to launch into a rant so Charlie changed the subject.

“But other than those two times I skipped, I’ve been good…I’m trying.”

“I know you are.” Emma gave a half-smile. She looked like she was going to say more, but a voice interrupted her.

“Emma, guess what?” A man walked into the room with two ice cream cups. “It was two-for-one at Any Given Sundae so –,” he cut himself off when he saw Charlie and Emma already eating ice cream.

Emma smirked while Charlie observed the newcomer. He had brown curly hair, a beard that was well-maintained, and kind, dark blue eyes. He wore a leather jacket over a vest, dress shirt, and tie and dark wash jeans. Charlie could see a gold star badge peeking out of his jacket where it was pinned to his vest.  

“I see somebody already beat me to it,” he continued with a smile.

“This is Charlie,” Emma introduced. “Charlie, this is Sheriff Graham Humbert.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Charlie.” Graham placed the two ice creams on one of the unoccupied desks.

“You too.” Charlie stood up to shake his hand.  His handshake was firm and reassuring. Charlie could see why he was the sheriff; he probably put a lot of people at ease. She sat back down.

“How are you liking Storybrooke, Charlie?” Graham asked.

“It’s okay,” Charlie said. “A lot of people seem to want to talk to me here. I don’t think I’ve ever been introduced to this many people in my life. Usually people just pass me by without a second thought. ”

“Did you grow up in a city?” he asked.

“I grew up all over,” Charlie said. “My parents and I moved around all the time for their jobs so we never stayed in one place for too long.”

“That sounds nice.” Graham nodded. “No wonder everyone in Storybrooke is dying to meet you. People are always fascinated by travelers, but more likely it’s small-town-nosiness.”

“Maybe,” Charlie mused. “What about you, Graham? You’re from Ireland, right?”

“I – I suppose so.” Graham looked perplexed.

“You suppose so?” Charlie tilted her head.

“Well, I must be,” Graham reasoned. “I couldn’t have been born here. My accent is different.”

He screwed up his face like he had a migraine and leaned against a desk.

“Graham?” Emma stood up and placed a hand on his arm.

“You don’t remember where you grew up?” Charlie asked.

“Charlie, I don’t know if this is the best time,” Emma said.

“I remember forests.” Graham rubbed at his temples with his fingertips. “That’s only if I really try. Mostly I just remember Storybrooke.”

“You must have been very young when you came here then,” Charlie reasoned.

“Yes, I must have been.” Graham nodded. “I must have been.”

The three of them were silent for a minute as Graham stared into space. He looked as if his body was in the room, but his mind was lightyears away. Charlie saw a strange spot of wildness enter his eyes.

“Graham, are you alright?” Emma asked.

Graham shook himself out of his reverie. The wildness was gone from his eyes. He ran his hands through his hair and gave Emma and Charlie a weak smile.

“Forgive me, ladies,” he said. “This headache just came out of nowhere. I’m just going to go get some aspirin from the restroom.”

“Is he okay?” Charlie asked after Graham had left the room.

“I guess so,” Emma shrugged. “His headache was probably just really intense at first.”

“But he couldn’t remember where he grew up,” Charlie insisted. “Isn’t that weird?”

“Well, Graham’s a bit of a weird guy.” Emma shrugged. “He’s got that whole hipster beard thing going on. Maybe he just doesn’t have a great memory. I’m sure that lots of people don’t.”

“Maybe.” Charlie still thought it was weird.

_The curse._ Henry’s voice sounded in her head. _Nobody remembers who they are._

Charlie tried to shake it out of her head. The curse wasn’t real and Henry was just a kid with a big imagination and a bad relationship with his mother. Emma was right; Graham must not have a good memory.

* * *

When Charlie wasn’t at school or work, she was with Ivy. The two girls would do homework together and wander around Storybrooke. Ivy would point out notable town hotspots and tell her a bit about the town residents. The day before Thanksgiving was no different.

“‘Mr. Gold Pawnbroker and Antiquities Dealer’,” Charlie read the sign aloud. “Do you think that he has anything weird?”

“He has these two creepy puppet things,” Ivy said. “That’s pretty friggin weird.”

“I wanna see them!” Charlie started to walk towards the door.

“I’m not going in there.” Ivy shook her head.

“Scared of the puppets?” Charlie smirked.

“I said ‘creepy’, not scary.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “Honestly I just really don’t like going in there in general. Bad vibes. You know those horror movies where the white family senses something off about their new house but decides to move in anyway?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said.

“That’s what it’s like,” Ivy explained. “You don’t go into the pawnshop unless you desperately need Mr. Gold’s help for something. He’s notorious for giving out loans that people aren’t able to pay back on time. Tons of people in Storybrooke are in debt to him and everyone else is just trying to avoid owing him money.”

“Then why do people just not go to him?” Charlie asked. “Banks give out loans. Is everyone in Storybrooke really that tight on money?”

“Mr. Gold will give you a loan regardless of credit,” Ivy said. “Plus he owns almost all of the property in Storybrooke; he’s basically everyone’s landlord. So when people can’t pay their rent they either fall into his debt or get evicted. Honestly, I don’t know what’s worse.”

“Can’t everyone just like form a coalition against him?” Charlie asked. “What about the church? Can they help people out?”

“Everyone’s afraid of him,” Ivy said. “As for the church, well, we have food drives all the time. But we’re not really good for providing money considering the fact that it’s so tight for _us_ all the time. Mr. Gold even owns the convent and there’ve been a few years that _we_ almost didn’t have enough money to pay him the rent. We rely mostly on donations and fundraisers just to get by ourselves.”

“Damn, talk about cold-hearted.” Charlie cringed. “Has anyone ever stood up to him?”

“Not that I know of.” Ivy shrugged.

The two stared at the shop windows in silence for a minute.

“I still want to see those puppets,” Charlie said.

“I’m still not going in.” Ivy shook her head. “But I’ll give you a dollar if you go in and talk to him.”

“You’re on.” Charlie smirked. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

She straightened her leather jacket, squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and opened the door. No one was inside, at least where Charlie could see them. There was a curtain behind the counter that Charlie assumed led to a back storage room. The shop was cluttered with all sorts of items, most of them antique, but there was not a spot of dust anywhere. Jewelry and other valuables were locked up in glass display cases around the store. There were four guitars hung on the wall that caught Charlie’s eye. They were all beautiful with glossy finish, but she didn’t dare touch them. She couldn’t afford to buy them if she accidentally dropped them.

Charlie saw the two puppets that Ivy was referring to sitting on a display near the counter. Charlie shivered; creepy was right. A miniature man and woman made of wood whose faces were carved into horrified expressions stared at her. Looking at them made Charlie feel queasy enough that she wanted to run out of the store, but she was getting that dollar. She wanted a can of Arizona iced tea. She needed to talk to Mr. Gold.

Hadn’t he heard the bell on the door when she came in? That’s what bells are for after all. She was looking around for a counter bell to ding when she noticed a small rainbow out of the corner of her eye. Charlie turned to the left to see a baby mobile hanging from the ceiling. It was hung with crystal unicorns that had created the small rainbow when the sunlight from the window hit them. Charlie’s breath caught in her throat when looking at it.

“A beautiful mobile, isn’t it?” The voice caused Charlie to jump.

She turned to see a middle-aged man suddenly standing behind the counter. He had shoulder length, greying brown hair and dark brown eyes that looked familiar. He was a slight man whose features were all angles, but he cut an imposing figure in a black three piece suit. Charlie didn’t know much about men’s fashion (she had never seen her father wear a suit in his life – not even in his wedding pictures) but the suit looked more expensive than everything she owned. He had a cane in his hand and an amused expression on his face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He spoke softly with a Scottish accent and his eyes said that he was not sorry at all.

“It’s fine.” Charlie smiled. “Um, hi.”

“Hello.” He looked even more amused. “Can I help you?”

“Oh um.” _Shit_ . “Well I’m new to town and, um, I wanted to see if you had anything cool to decorate my room with.” _Nice save, Charlie_.

“Ah, yes.” He suddenly looked a lot more interested in their conversation. “You’re Deputy Swan’s girl, correct?”

“Oh um, yes.” Charlie felt a weird urge to curtsy, but she held it back. “You must be Mr. Gold.”

“In the flesh,” he said with a nod. “How are you liking Storybrooke so far?”

“Um, it’s nice I guess.” Charlie shrugged.

There was a moment of silence where Charlie glanced at the mobile again.

“See anything you like?”

“I mean it’s a pretty town,” Charlie mused. “The beach must be nice when the weather gets warmer.”

“I meant in the shop, dearie.” Gold looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“Right.” Charlie felt her cheeks burning. “This is a store. You’re the store owner. You were asking if I wanted to buy something from your store.”

“Yes, that is what I meant. You’re welcome to continue browsing if you like.”

“Right, thanks.” Charlie nodded. “But I think this stuff is a little out of my price range right now. I’ll be back when I’ve saved up a few more paychecks.”

“I’ll be here,” Mr. Gold said. “Enjoy your evening, Miss Kaye.”

Charlie didn’t question how he knew her name. Word seemed to pass quickly in Storybrooke.

“Thanks. You too, Mr. Gold.”

Charlie left the shop to see Ivy staring at her with wide eyes.

“Holy shit,” Ivy said. “You actually had a conversation with him. I saw through the window. I was expecting you to say hi and then run out.”

“It wasn’t scary,” Charlie lied. “Those puppets are unsettling though. Give me that dollar, I need to wash away the memory of them with Arizona.”

“But what about Mr. Gold?” Ivy prompted as she handed over the dollar. “Wasn’t he creepy?”

“Well, I did get a weird vibe from him,” Charlie admitted as they walked away from the shop. “He seemed super polite, but not friendly. Like, most shopkeepers are friendly because they want you to buy stuff. He looked at me like I was just a source of entertainment.”

“I think that’s what the entire town is to him,” Ivy said. “Just a bunch of little people for him to laugh at later when he’s alone.”

“Rich people, right?” Charlie forced a chuckle. “Down with the bourgeoisie.”

Once Charlie had gotten her Arizona, it was starting to get dark so she and Ivy parted ways to go home. Charlie walked into the loft to see Mary Margaret surrounded by several types of food ingredients. She looked up when Charlie came into view and gave her a radiant smile.

“Hi sweetie, how was your day?” Mary Margaret asked.

Mary Margaret would always greet her like this and it always made Charlie feel warm. The two women hadn’t spent a lot of time together over the past month, but something about Mary Margaret was just so familiar. She treated Charlie like family and was more open than Emma. Not that Emma wasn’t kind, she was just prickly - a trait that Charlie could relate to. Mary Margaret just seemed very motherly in general toward Emma, Henry, and herself. Charlie supposed it was because she was an elementary school teacher. No wonder Henry wanted her to be their grandmother so bad. Charlie had never had a grandparent, but she imagined that this is what they were like.

“It was good.” Charlie gave a smile back. “How was yours?”

“Work was good,” Mary Margaret said. “The grocery store was a nightmare though!”

“Yeah.” Charlie glanced at the filled counter again. “Are we having guests over for Thanksgiving tomorrow?”

“Nope!” Mary Margaret said. “Just the three of us. I’ve never hosted a Thanksgiving dinner before and I was just so excited. I _may_ have gone a little overboard. But at least we’ll have plenty of leftovers.”

“I’ll say.” Charlie laughed. “Do you usually go to Thanksgiving with your family?”

“It’s usually just me.” Mary Margaret’s smile fell a bit. “My parents died a long time ago. I usually just have a normal dinner and watch the Macy’s parade and the _Peanut’s_ special. Catch up on some reading and chores. That kind of stuff.”

“Oh.” Charlie felt her heart squeeze a little for Mary Margaret. She had such a sunny disposition that Charlie had never realized that she was lonely. _I guess that’s why she opened her home to us._ It was funny, how orphans seemed to stick together. It seemed that Emma and Mary Margaret had bonded instantly. Charlie and Ivy had managed to find each other. And now, Charlie was feeling the same connection toward Mary Margaret.

“Do you want any help?” Charlie found herself asking. “With the dinner?”

“That would be lovely,” Mary Margaret said. “Have you ever prepared a Thanksgiving dinner before?”

“Not really,” Charlie said. “My parents used to always prepare it together because I was little, and they just gave me tiny jobs to keep me busy. We never went all out since it was just the three of us. And my aunt was obsessed with doing it all herself. She would refuse help and then complain that no one helped her.” Charlie rolled her eyes at the end.

“Hm.” Mary Margaret looked angry for a moment before schooling her features. “Well then I guess we’ll just have to figure it out together.”

“Sounds good to me,” Charlie said.

Mary Margaret gave Charlie instructions and the two of them got started.

“So,” Charlie casted around for a conversation topic. “How’s volunteering at the hospital going?”

Mary Margaret turned red and Charlie stifled a giggle.

“I quit.” Mary Margaret avoided eye contact.

“Why?” Charlie asked.

“It was all getting to be a little much,” Mary Margaret said.

“Prince Charming being married, you mean?” Charlie asked.

Mary Margaret made a slightly strangled noise.

“Aren’t you a little old to be imitating Henry?” she asked.

“Hey, I just found it refreshing that Snow White rescued Prince Charming for once,” Charlie said with a shrug. “I love that Henry is ten and already a feminist.”

“Henry’s so creative,” Mary Margaret changed the subject, but Charlie let it go. “He’s so sweet and he talks about you all the time.”

“He is,” Charlie agreed. “Although, I don’t know how much he could possibly say about me. I’m not that interesting.”

“He’s been talking about his brave, funny, kind, big sister and how she’s going to be a warrior in the ‘Final Battle’ for a month now.”

Charlie felt tears sting her eyes and had to look at the ground for a moment, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“Well, I don’t know about all that.” She shrugged. “But I _am_ freaking hilarious, so he’s got that right.”

“Well, Charlie,” Mary Margaret started. “I haven’t known you for all that long, but I do agree with Henry. You are all those things, whether or not you become a warrior in any final battles.”

“Thank you.” One tear did escape this time. Charlie wiped it away quickly and hoped that Mary Margaret didn’t notice. Charlie decided to change the subject.

“So, I don’t really know anything about cooking,” she said. “But at least I know from _Friends_ not to put beef in the trifle.”

Mary Margaret’s laugh was infectious and her smile was truly dazzling. Charlie could almost believe she _was_ Snow White.

“That’s the second funniest Thanksgiving episode,” Mary Margaret said. “The funniest is when Monica puts the turkey on her head and scares Joey.”

“That _is_ a good one,” Charlie said. “ _But_ the one with the beef in the trifle is the one where Ross and Monica start yelling all their childhood dirt on each other to their parents and Phoebe yells that she loves Jacques Costeau.”

Emma came in through the door then. Charlie and Mary Margaret greeted her before continuing the discussion.

“Hmm,” Mary Margaret said. “I don’t know…”

“What don’t you know?” Emma asked while hanging her jacket up.

“Emma, what’s the funniest _Friends_ Thanksgiving episode?” Charlie asked.

“The one where Monica confesses that she accidentally cut off Chandler’s toe because he called her fat,” she said.

“Ha!” Mary Margaret said. “That’s the one where Monica puts the turkey on her head!”

“But Rachel putting beef in the trifle!” Charlie insisted.

“Damn, that’s another good one,” Emma admitted. “This is harder than I thought.”

“The show is called _Friends_ , but it’s dividing us,” Charlie said with a dramatic sigh.

“Okay, regardless,” Mary Margaret said. “Let’s please get started cooking. There’s so much food here, why am I like this?”

Emma and Charlie laughed at her frazzled expression. Mary Margaret joined in after a few seconds. The three of them eventually calmed down and started working together to prepare for the next day. For once, it looked like it was going to be a good holiday.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Charlie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. She had felt eyes on her as soon as she left Storybrooke High’s campus but there were too many people around to pinpoint a specific individual. Charlie shook her head. She was just being paranoid. Storybrooke was a small town – somebody was always watching. 

No matter how much Charlie tried to shake her fear away, the feeling persisted for several blocks. Charlie’s palms were sweaty and it felt like there was a lead ball sitting in her stomach. She kept checking behind her but saw nobody.

“Stop being a freak,” she whispered to herself. 

She walked another block. Someone was still following her. 

What if it was Aunt Judith? Charlie  _ knew _ that Judith wasn’t told where Emma took her, but what if she found out? Henry had found her, why couldn’t Judith? Charlie’s eyes started to prickle in fear. Aunt Judith had found her and was coming to get her. She should have known she would never be safe, no matter what Emma said.

_ Emma _ . Thinking the name helped Charlie to ground herself. Emma had rescued her before, she would do it again. As long as Emma was around, Charlie would be safe. 

Charlie looked behind her again and still saw no one, but she knew that Judith was there. The sheriff’s station was two blocks away. If Charlie could just get there, Judith wouldn’t stand a chance against Emma. Even if Emma wasn’t there, Sheriff Graham wouldn’t let Charlie get hurt. She just had to get to the sheriff’s station.

Charlie began to run. Her heart was pounding against her ribs like a hammer on an anvil and she could hear her boots slapping against the pavement. She pushed herself to run faster than she ever had before. She could see the sheriff’s station ahead of her, but what she couldn’t see was the massive crack in the sidewalk that the toe of her right boot managed to slip into. 

Charlie felt a twinge in her ankle and her stomach flopped as she fell forward. She couldn’t move her foot out of the crack fast enough to catch her balance. All Charlie could do was put her arms out, close her eyes, and brace herself for the fall. As she hit the ground, Charlie gasped as she realized that Aunt Judith would catch her now. 

Charlie tried to scramble off of her stomach and whipped her head over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of Judith, but this motion only landed her on her butt. In her second fumble, Charlie caught a glimpse of yellow eyes, it was over.

_ Wait, yellow? _ Aunt Judith’s eyes were blue. Charlie looked back again. There was a cat sitting about a foot away from her. 

The cat had a thick, shaggy golden brown coat with patches of darker brown throughout and a large bushy tail. He was also the largest cat Charlie had ever seen. He was stocky with a barrel chest and thick legs and seemed to be about two feet tall and two feet long. Charlie stared at him and he stared back with his head tilted. 

Charlie realized that she had caught glimpses of the cat’s golden brown coat after leaving school. She had seen the colors out of the corner of her eye and just assumed it to be autumn leaves. She felt her cheeks start to burn. She was running away from a cat.  _ A fucking cat _ . Aunt Judith wasn’t in Storybrooke. It was just a cat. 

Charlie felt tears spill over onto her cheeks as she began to laugh in exasperation. 

“Fuck you, stupid cat.” She sniffled. “Making me run away like an idiot.” 

The cat continued to stare at Charlie, unfazed by her swearing. 

“Go away now.” Charlie angrily swiped the tears off her cheeks. She hoped that no one would walk by and see her. 

The cat continued to stare at her.

“Fine, I’ll leave.” Charlie pushed herself off the ground. “Bye, don’t follow me.” 

The cat didn’t follow her, but Charlie could feel his eyes on her until she turned the corner. She felt so stupid. She was running from a cat and then talking to it. She just hoped that no one had witnessed it. She was already embarrassed and just wanted to go home. 

A few hours later, Charlie was practicing on her keyboard when Emma came home from the parent-teacher conference. Charlie looked up when Emma knocked on her door frame. 

“What’d they say?” Charlie bit her lip. She really was trying to be good for Emma, but she knew she had slipped up a few times.

Emma sat on Charlie’s bed and patted the spot next to her. Charlie turned off the keyboard and sat pretzel-style facing Emma. 

“No one said anything bad,” Emma said. “So you can relax. A couple of teachers told me that you don’t always turn in your homework, so you’ve gotta work on that.”

“Homework is stupid,” Charlie complained. “If they can’t teach us that crap in class, they shouldn’t expect us to learn it by doing it at home. It’s a waste of time.”

“Alright.” Emma sighed. “First of all, don’t say that in front of Mary Margaret. Second, even if I agree that homework’s stupid, you still have to do it.”

“But I do well enough on tests that it doesn’t matter. I’m still passing,” Charlie argued.

“Regardless,” Emma held up a hand. “They also said you don’t participate in class enough. So either participate or make up for it by doing homework. Pick your poison.”

“Ugh, homework, I guess,” Charlie rolled her eyes.

“There you go.” Emma nodded. “Also your principal says you need some extracurriculars.”

“Why?” Charlie whined. 

“Apparently it looks good on your transcript.” Emma shrugged. “Colleges like that kind of stuff.”

“But I don’t even want to go to college,” Charlie said with a huff.

“You might change your mind someday,” Emma reasoned. “In which case extracurriculars look great. Besides, the principal was really adamant that you get involved somehow. He says you need to show more school spirit.”

“I don’t have any school spirit,” Charlie deadpanned. 

“Exactly.” Emma pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of her back pocket and handed it to Charlie. “He gave me a list of school activities.”

“Gross.” Charlie scanned the list. “I’m  _ not _ doing a sport. I refuse to exercise. I know it keeps you healthy, but God, at what cost?”

“There’s other stuff there too.” Emma raised an eyebrow. 

“Chess is for nerds,” Charlie said. “I’m not doing debate – I hate talking to people. Film club is a no, because film buffs only care about ‘artsy’ stuff that’s super indie and not even good. They’re always like ‘Ooh, I just saw this French film about lesbians who commit suicide. It was so tragically beautiful.’ And I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I really like  _ High School Musical 2 _ .’ I bet they don’t even appreciate the magic of Disney Channel Original Movies.”

“Band is there,” Emma pointed out. “You can play piano.”

“They’re full, remember?” Charlie said. “That’s why I signed up for Voice class instead.”

“Then why not chorus?” Emma asked.

“I don’t do Church.” Charlie shook her head. “They perform at mass every Sunday. That’s why Ivy’s Chorus Captain.”

“It’s something,” Emma said with a shrug. “Besides, Miss Ocean had nothing but nice things to say about you.”

“Really?” Charlie blinked. “I didn’t think she liked anybody.”

“She said that you’re ‘a pleasure to have in class’.” Emma smiled. “And she said that you’re very talented as well. You chose a pretty tough song to perform for your midterm, huh?”

“Oh, um, kinda.” Charlie felt her cheeks heat up. 

“Miss Ocean said that with another student she’d be hesitant to let them tackle a project like that. But she knows you can handle it.”

“She really said that?” Charlie whispered.

“She did.” Emma squeezed Charlie’s shoulder. “She also said that she would love to see you audition for the Spring Musical when the time comes.” 

“Wow.” Charlie was still stunned. “I’ve never really acted before though.”

“Miss Ocean seems to think you’re a very animated performer, and I’ve gotta say I agree.” A hint of teasing crept into Emma’s voice. “You sure are captivating when you sing Kelly Clarkson.”

“Hey.” Charlie’s blush was back, but she was smiling. “Let me remind you that you joined in. What does that say about you, huh?”

“It says that I think you should give it a shot.” Emma laughed. “You might enjoy yourself.”

* * *

“Hey Ivy, have you ever done the school musical?” Charlie asked.

The two girls were on line for lunch at the cafeteria.

“Every year.” Ivy put a slice of pizza on her tray.

“Is it fun?” Charlie grabbed her own slice.

“It would be better if we didn’t do the same musical every fucking year.” Ivy grabbed a basket of fries and slammed them on the tray with a frown.

“I’m sorry, what?” Charlie raised an eyebrow. 

“We’ve done  _ Oklahoma! _ every year for as long as anyone can remember.” Ivy took an order of mozzarella sticks. 

“How do you do the same musical every year?” Charlie shook her head. “That’s insane. Plus,  _ Oklahoma!  _ sucks. Like I get that it set the model for Broadway musicals, but it’s just so boring. Literally, who gives a fuck about the farmer and the cowman being friends?” 

“Right?” Ivy got a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and walked to the cashier. “It’s because the theatre department is friggin’ broke. Rumor has it that Miss Ocean bought the rights to a new musical once, but it was all the money we had. The money we were  _ supposed _ to have to actually produce it got relocated to the athletics department because of some bureaucratic  _ bullshit  _ that comes from small town public schools having no appreciation for the arts. So we were forced to do  _ Oklahoma! _ again because we have to do a musical every year to generate revenue for the department, but no one wanted to see it again so we made no money. And that’s what happens every year: we do the same musical, a handful of people come, we make basically no money, and the cycle begins again. We’re so starved for funds.” 

“Wow.” Charlie paid for her own meal. “I’ve never seen you so passionate about something before.”

“I’m just so sick of  _ Oklahoma! _ , Charlie,” Ivy whispered in defeat. “I just want to do something new – I don’t even care what it is.”

“Do you think Miss Ocean really has the rights to a new musical?” Charlie found an empty corner of a table for them and sat down. “Because if she does, then we might be able to raise the funds for everything else in time for auditions. They’re the beginning of February, right?”

“It could just be a rumor,” Ivy said with a shrug. “But who knows? And yeah, that’s when auditions are. I don’t know if we can really get that much money in time though. How much does it cost to produce a high school musical?”

“Beats me.” Charlie took out her phone. “Let’s see what Google has to say. Let me know if a teacher comes by.”

Ivy kept lookout while Charlie typed “how to produce a high school musical” into her phone. 

“Holy shit.” Charlie cringed when she saw the number.

“How much?” Ivy asked.

“Roughly twelve thousand five hundred dollars,” Charlie said.

“There goes that idea.” Ivy sighed into her French fries. “Oh well, maybe next year.”

“Ivy, we’re seniors,” Charlie pointed out. “There’s not going to be a next year.”

“Oh right.” Ivy shoved more fries into her mouth. 

“I bet we can do it.” Charlie put her phone away and pulled out a pen, notebook, and calculator.

“Are you crazy?” Ivy laughed. “Auditions are the first week of February; it’s December first. How the hell are we gonna raise twelve thousand dollars that fast?”  

“Well, this all depends on if we already have the rights to a new musical,” Charlie reasoned. “Because without that we’re screwed. This website says you need to do that at  _ least _ six months in advance. But if we do have the rights, that’s about two thousand eight hundred dollars already taken care of, which means we only have to raise nine thousand seven hundred dollars.”

“Only nine thousand seven hundred dollars, she says.” Ivy shook her head. 

“It’s  _ not _ impossible,” Charlie insisted. “I have a plan. I’m gonna talk to Miss Ocean after school.”

“You’re crazy, but I’ll wait for you after your meeting because you’re my friend.”

“We can do it, Ivy.” Charlie felt excitement itching in her chest for the first time in years. “Can you imagine how awesome it’ll be if we pull this off? We’ll be legends! We’ll be the ones to end the  _ Oklahoma! _ reign of terror! And if we manage to generate enough revenue post-production, Miss Ocean will be able to afford to do  _ another _ new musical next year. It’s your senior year of high school, Ivy. Don’t you want to go out with a bang?” 

“What’s your plan?” Ivy actually put her food down for a moment.

Charlie grinned.

 

 

Charlie had been pacing outside Ms. Ocean’s office for far too long. After a few steps she would raise her hand to knock on the door, lose her nerve, and then continue pacing. This went on for about ten minutes before Miss Ocean’s voice interrupted her.

“Whoever’s pacing outside my office door, either come in or go away because you’re getting annoying.” Her voice rang out clearly despite the door being closed. 

Charlie stopped pacing. She swallowed the lump in her throat, took a deep breath, plastered on what she hoped was a convincing smile, and opened the door. Ms. Ocean sat at her desk with a pen in her hand, looking over her glasses with amusement in her eyes. Charlie saw a small fish tank placed on top of a bookshelf in the corner of the room.

“Hi, Miss Ocean.” Charlie’s voice shook. She cleared her throat. “Can I talk to you?”

“If it will get you to stop wearing a hole in the hallway floor.” She took her glasses off and put her pen down.

Charlie took a seat in the chair that was facing the desk. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then fidgeted for a minute. 

“Are we going to talk or are we going to stare at each other?” Ms. Ocean raised an eyebrow. 

Charlie took a breath and thought of that song from  _ The King and I _ that had some really good advice.  _ Make believe you’re brave…you may be as brave as you make believe you are _ . Charlie couldn’t whistle, so she just ignored that part of the song. 

“Miss Ocean, I wanted to talk to you about the Spring musical,” Charlie said in a rush.

“Oh.” Ms. Ocean actually gave a small smile. “Are you planning on auditioning?”

“Yes,” Charlie said. “But auditions aren’t what I came here to talk about.”

“Is that so?” Ms. Ocean looked very entertained for a reason Charlie couldn’t quite fathom.

“Yes,” Charlie said again. “Rumor has it that the theatre department has done  _ Oklahoma! _ every year for a while now.”

“That’s correct.” Ms. Ocean frowned. “We haven’t had the budget to produce a new musical.”

“Yes, I heard that as well,” Charlie continued. “Rumor  _ also _ has it that you’ve purchased the rights for a new musical and the reason you haven’t done it is because the theatre department can’t afford to pay for any new sets, costumes, etcetera.”

“That is also correct.” Ms. Ocean narrowed her eyes. “Is there a reason you’re interrogating me about the theatre department’s funding?”

“Not interrogating, inquiring,” Charlie corrected. “If we could raise the rest of the money to produce the new musical would you be game to kick  _ Oklahoma! _ to the curb?”

“The keyword here is  _ if _ , Charlie.” Ms. Ocean raised her eyebrows. “Do you have a trust fund that you’re willing to donate to the theatre department?” 

“No, no I do not,” Charlie said. “But I have resilience and a plan.” 

“And what is this plan, angelfish?” Ms. Ocean folded her hands on top of her desk.

“Well, I did the math.” Charlie pulled out her notebook. “With the production rights already purchased, we only need to raise about nine thousand seven hundred dollars to actually produce this show. Possibly less because we already have an auditorium and don’t need to rent a space. I’ve outlined our production expenses here.” Charlie ripped out her budget list and handed it to Ms. Ocean. “So far I have three fundraising ideas, although I need to ask someone permission for one.” 

“What are your ideas?” Ms. Ocean actually looked intrigued.

“First of all, we should have a vocal recital,” Charlie began. “Each student in Voice class has a song prepared for the midterm and therefore they should be able to perform it on stage after winter break. That’s fifteen solo songs right there and we should perform ensemble numbers too. We can get the chorus and the band involved. We’ll advertise to the community and charge admission. So that’s some money under our belt from the admission fee and we can have a jar for audience donations as well. Plus, it’s a way to showcase our talent and hopefully the rest of the school and town will want to see more of it.

“Second, we should have a bake sale, maybe even more than one. Everyone’s a sucker for bake sales. We can have students man the table during their lunch breaks. 

“Third, I can ask Granny if she’d be interested in doing a karaoke night or two at the diner. We can charge a participation fee and this way we can get the rest of the community involved and feel like they’re a part of something. We have two months and three fundraisers. This is completely possible.”

“You’ve really thought this through.” Ms. Ocean smiled. “You must really want to be a part of this musical.”

“I’m trying to be a part of  _ something _ here,” Charlie said. “Emma – my birth mother – she’s done a lot for me in the short time that I’ve known her. And even though she won’t say it straight out, I know she’s worried about me fitting in in this town. And I think I owe it to her to try. Just please don’t tell anyone I said that, it’ll ruin my reputation as a bad bitch.” 

“Well we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Ms. Ocean snorted. “Your secret’s safe with me. But I want you to know something before you do all of this.”

“Yes?” Charlie asked. 

“Don’t think I’m just going to hand you the lead role because you’re trying to save the day.” Ms. Ocean’s face was serious. “You need to audition just like everybody else and prove to me that you have the talent to be in this show. Do you understand?”

“Absolutely.” Charlie nodded. “I don’t want a role to be handed to me. I want to deserve it.”

“Good.” Ms. Ocean’s face relaxed. “Now let’s start planning dates for these fundraisers.”

 

 

“You were in there for an hour,” Ivy complained when Charlie met her in the school lobby. “Is that a good thing?”

“Miss Ocean  _ does _ have the rights to a new show!” Charlie’s smile was huge. “And she’s willing to do all the fundraisers.”

“Nice!” Ivy smiled back and gave her a high five. “So we’re really doing this?”

“We’re really doing this!” Charlie yelled as she ran out of the school. “Now I’ve gotta get to Granny’s in time for my shift. Gotta make sure she’s in a good mood when I ask her for help with fundraising,”

Charlie was on time and Granny was amicable to the idea of hosting karaoke night. Charlie was feeling pretty confident after her successful day and it showed in her work. She hadn’t made any mistakes and she was social with all of the customers. When Mr. Gold took a seat in her section, Charlie was optimistic in spite of how strange their first meeting had been.

“Hi Mr. Gold.” Charlie put on her customer service smile. “How are you doing today?”

“I’d like a coffee and a BLT please,” he said shortly.

“Sure thing.” Charlie wrote it down. “Anything else?”

“No, that will be all.” He turned back to his newspaper. 

“Coming right up,” Charlie said.

“Here’s your coffee,” Charlie said a few minutes later. “Your sandwich will be out shortly.”

“I’ve been to a diner before.” He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t need to tell me that the drinks are always ready before the food.”

“Right.” Charlie kept her smile on despite his rudeness. His manners were better on his own turf.

“Anything else I can get for you?” Charlie asked when she brought out his sandwich. 

“Silence,” he replied with a glare. 

It took all of Charlie’s effort not to glare back. No wonder no one liked him.

“Hey,” Ruby said when Charlie walked back to the counter. “Don’t try to start conversations with Gold. He’s not a people person.”

“Neither am I really,” Charlie responded. “But I at least have enough manners to be polite to people in passing.”

“Well, Mr. Gold’s not known for being the nicest person in town,” Ruby pointed out. “People hate him even more than they hate the mayor.”

“Okay, first of all,” Charlie started. “How did she even get elected if everyone hates her so much?”

“She’s been mayor as long as I can remember.” Ruby shrugged. “No one’s ever run against her.”

“Jeez. Okay, back to Gold, my customer service smile is A plus. I can usually get anyone to smile back to me. Well, except Mayor Mills, but she hates me on principle so whatever. I’m gonna get that man to smile at me.”

“You’re weird, Charlie.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “No one in Storybrooke  _ wants _ Mr. Gold to smile at them. Besides, I bet even an actual Disney princess couldn’t get him to smile at her.”

Ruby was right, that day. Mr. Gold wouldn’t crack a smile once for Charlie. All of her attempts at being friendly just seemed to irritate him. 

That night Charlie decided to tell Emma and Mary Margaret about her plan at dinner.

“So I  _ may _ have decided to do something slightly crazy,” she said.

“Define ‘crazy’,” Emma said.

Charlie told them about the musical situation and they waited patiently until they were finished. 

“Oh yeah,” Mary Margaret said in a slightly dazed voice. “They really have been doing the same show forever. I knew there was a reason I had stopped going, I just couldn’t remember why.”

“Point in case,” Charlie said.

“You know Charlie,” Emma said. “When I said to get involved, I meant join a club or audition for the musical. I didn’t mean to dedicate yourself to completely revamping the school’s entire theatre department. You’ve only been here for a month and you’re still adjusting. You already have your weekly sessions with Archie and a job on top of going to school. Are you sure you’re up for this?” 

“I’ll never know if I don’t try.” Charlie shrugged.

“You’re not gonna have any free time,” Emma pointed out. 

“It’s not like I exactly have a thrilling social life to begin with,” Charlie said. “Besides, Ivy’s gonna do the musical and she’s my only friend.” 

“I think what Emma means,” Mary Margaret cut in. “is that maybe for now you should set aside some ‘me time’. You’ve been through a lot in the past few years, and the past month especially. Don’t you want some time to just chill?”

“I’ve had about four years to chill,” Charlie said. “I did absolutely nothing back in Portland. I stayed in my room all day until I was old enough to work. And even then, I was hiding in my room from Judith, or loitering around town when I could avoid being home. So it was school, work, avoid social situations, and chores. And I don’t think it was a very healthy cycle. Too much time alone with my thoughts. At least if I’m busy, I won’t have time to think about messed up stuff.”

Emma and Mary Margaret stared at her for a moment.

“You’re very self-aware for your age,” Mary Margaret remarked. 

“Thanks, it’s the trauma.” Charlie gave a wry grin. 

Emma snorted.

“Listen kid,” she said. “If this is really what you wanna do, go for it. I’ll support you. But if you wanna drop it, I’ll still support you. I don’t want you to stress yourself out unnecessarily. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.” 

“Thanks,” Charlie said. “I appreciate it. But I think this is gonna be good for me. And not just me, but others too. Being part of something special makes you special, right?”

“That’s really profound,” Emma said.

“I mean, it’s from  _ Glee _ ,” Charlie said. “But yeah, I think it is.”

* * *

Charlie looked around the conference room of Town Hall. It was not a large room, but it was filling up quickly. The politically concerned citizens of Storybrooke were filing into the rows of folding chairs up to a small partition. In front of the partition was a long table for the members of the town council and a smaller table with the secretary getting ready to record the minutes. The mayor sat at her own desk in front of the council facing the rest of the room. Emma sat near the front next to Sheriff Graham and kept turning to give Charlie encouraging smiles. Charlie fidgeted in the last row between Miss Ocean and Ivy.

“Miss Ocean, I really think that you should be the one to do it.” Charlie picked at the turquoise polish on her nails.

“And why is that?” Ms. Ocean raised an eyebrow. 

“Well, you’re the teacher and an adult. They’ll listen to you,” Charlie said. “They’ll respect you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Ms. Ocean snorted. “They’ve ignored me every time I’ve asked for funds for the theatre department.”

“So they’ll  _ definitely _ ignore me,” Charlie mumbled.

“Don’t say that.” Ivy placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. 

“They can’t ignore you,” Ms. Ocean said. “You’re not asking for anything. You’re simply making an announcement.”

“I still think it would be better for you to do it,” Charlie pressed.

“It’s your idea,” Ms. Ocean pointed out. “You deserve to take credit for it.”

“I’m not really a public speaker.” Charlie continued to chip at her nail polish. 

“Then I guess you can’t be in the musical if you can’t talk in front of a crowd,” Ms. Ocean remarked.

Charlie’s eyes widened. She hadn’t even thought of that. 

“I guess this will be my first rehearsal then,” Charlie said after a minute.

“That’s what I thought.” Ms. Ocean smirked. 

The meeting itself was incredibly boring. Charlie tried to pay attention – after all she wanted these people to pay attention to her – but she just couldn’t focus. It was too dull and she was too nervous. She glanced to her left to see Ivy playing on her Nintendo DS. Damn, Charlie didn’t even have any games on her phone and she didn’t want to waste data. But either way she didn’t want to be caught unawares by Mayor Mills who kept glancing at her throughout the meeting. By the time the meeting was drawing to a close, Charlie had picked all of the turquoise off her nails.

“Now are there any announcements regarding community events?” Mayor Mills asked.

Charlie heard the words, but they didn’t register immediately. 

“Anyone?” Mayor Mills picked up her gavel as if to close the meeting.

Ms. Ocean and Ivy both elbowed Charlie who quickly stood up.

“Actually.” Charlie’s voice cracked. She winced and cleared her throat. “I have an announcement to make.”

“Miss Kaye.” Mayor Mills glared at her. “This is a serious town council meeting. We don’t have time for teenage nonsense.”

There were a few snickers in the crowd. 

“It’s not teenage nonsense.” Charlie felt her blood pounding in her ears. She stalked up to the partition. “It’s an announcement regarding community events. You just asked if there were any and I have one, so I’ll use my privilege as a free-thinking citizen of Storybrooke to make that announcement. You wouldn’t deny free speech in a government building, would you, Mayor Mills?” 

The mayor glared at Charlie for a minute as the crowd mumbled around them.

“Make it quick, Miss Kaye.” Mayor Mills held tight to her gavel as if she were ready to interrupt Charlie at any moment.

“Thank you.” Charlie gave her a sickly sweet smile and then turned to face the rest of the room. 

She tried not to let her smile fall. Everyone was staring at her. Mr. Gold was watching her in amusement and she could feel the mayor glaring holes into her back. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to look for friendly faces. Ivy had put her DS down and gave her a thumbs up while Ms. Ocean nodded in encouragement. Charlie glanced to the right and saw Archie, Granny, Ruby, and Mary Margaret in another row, giving her wide reassuring smiles. She looked to the second row on the left to where Sheriff Graham and Emma were sitting. The sheriff nodded at her while Emma gave her the small smile that she seemed to only reserve for Charlie and Henry. 

“Citizens of Storybrooke.” Charlie’s smile became more relaxed. “My name is Charlie Kaye and I’m here today on the behalf of Storybrooke High School’s Performing Arts program. Art is crucial to the culture of every society and it fills our lives with vibrant emotion. Storybrooke High’s theatre department, however, is severely lacking in funds and therefore it has not been able to live up to its full potential. They have been performing the same musical every year simply because they cannot afford the costumes, sets, and other materials to produce a new one. 

“We now have the scripts and scores for a new musical, but we need the rest of Storybrooke’s help to actually perform it. We will be holding some public events to raise money for the theatre department between now and the first week of February. We need to raise nine thousand seven hundred dollars to be able to put on the show. Granny’s will host karaoke night every Wednesday from eight to ten p.m. for the next six weeks so you can sing with your friends and donate to the school at the same time. 

“I would also like to invite you all to Storybrooke High’s very first vocal recital on Friday, January 20 th . The performance will begin at seven p.m. in the Storybrooke High auditorium. You can enjoy the musical talents of Storybrooke High’s vocal students, chorus, and band while getting a preview of the talent that you’ll be seeing in the musical. 

“Flyers for both events are hanging on the bulletin board outside of town hall and in Granny’s Diner. I’ll be handing some out after the meeting as well. Extra donations will gladly be accepted to Ms. Ocean’s office at the school and volunteers for stage crew would be very much appreciated. 

“We hope that you’ll join us at these events and then for the musical that  _ you _ will have helped to produce. Please help us work together to bring the joy of theatre back to Storybrooke. Thank you.”

Charlie walked back to her seat as quickly as possible and avoided eye contact with the rest of the room. Her heart was still pounding from the adrenaline of speaking in front of the crowd. She took several deep breaths while Ivy patted her on the back.

“You did good, Charlie,” Ivy reassured her.

“I thought you said you weren’t big on public speaking,” Ms. Ocean added.

“I’m not,” Charlie said.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Ms. Ocean said. “You’re a natural. You sounded like a leader.”

“I don’t know about being a leader,” Charlie said with a shrug. “But the mayor was pissing me off so I kinda just let my rage fuel me.”

“Well at least you use your anger in constructive ways,” Ivy said.

“I try.”

Mayor Mills closed the meeting and the crowd began to disperse. Charlie, Ivy, and Ms. Ocean gathered their flyers and brought them to the door to hand them out. Almost every person who had been present at the meeting took a flyer and some of them even volunteered for stage crew. Charlie’s smile grew with each person who expressed interest in her goal. The meeting had gone better than she had hoped. Charlie tried not to let her smile drop when she saw the mayor walking toward her.

“A compelling speech, Miss Kaye,” she said once she had reached Charlie. “But it’s not nice to give people false hope.”

“Excuse me?” Charlie frowned.

“Do you really believe that you can raise nearly ten thousand dollars in less than two months?” Regina raised an eyebrow.  

“Yes, actually I do.” Charlie narrowed her eyes. 

“If the theatre department hasn’t been able to raise enough funds to reach its goal over the past several years, what makes you think that anything will be different now?”

“They didn’t have me before.” Charlie held her chin up high.

“And what makes you so special?” Regina gave a short laugh. 

“Because I’m willing to try,” Charlie said. “I don’t back down from a challenge.” 

“You’ll disappoint them.” Regina’s eyes and voice were cold. “You’re in way over your head and this goal of yours is well beyond your reach.” 

“Then I’ll get a ladder,” Charlie challenged. “Nothing is impossible.” 

“We’ll see about that.” Regina gave Charlie a smug smile and began to walk away. “Enjoy working for nothing,” she called over her shoulder. 

“I’ll see you opening night, Mayor Mills,” Charlie called after her. “We’ll reserve a seat in the front row just for you!” 

“What was that about?” Emma had just exited the room and caught Charlie’s last remark.

“Mayor Mills was just showing her support for the arts.” Charlie smiled. 

“Right.” Emma looked suspicious for a moment before her expression gave way to a smile. “You did great up there, kid.”

“You really think so?” Charlie felt the tips of her ears turn red. 

“I really do,” Emma squeezed her shoulder. “Give me some of those flyers. I think a few people walked out without grabbing one.” 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, it's been a while. This month has been crazy. ALSO I got all caught up with season 7 this month to watch the finale. Quite a wild ride and then I was reminded that season 7 has a character named Ivy. Just wanted to let everyone know that she is in no way, shape, or form connected to our Ivy in this story. Pollyannaism picked that name out for her character years ago. We did it first lol. Anyway, thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoy Chapter 8.

Mr. Gold was at Granny’s again. Charlie decided to try a different approach with him this time.

“Hey, Mr. Gold did you hear about the guy who got his left arm and left leg cut off?” Charlie asked.

“I can’t say that I have.” Mr. Gold looked confused.

“Well, it’s okay.” Charlie grinned. “He’s all right now.”

Mr. Gold stared at Charlie while she laughed. 

“Get it?” she asked. “He’s  _ all right _ now.”

Understanding finally dawned in Mr. Gold’s eyes.

“Just get me my coffee, Miss Kaye.” He frowned. 

“Right.” Her smile dropped and she went to go get it.

Ruby was giggling uncontrollably when Charlie got to the counter.

“What the hell?” Charlie whispered to her. “That’s my favorite joke.”

“Well, clearly it’s not his,” she said. 

“You thought it was funny though, right?” Charlie asked.

“Sure…” Ruby went to go greet some new customers.

The rest of Charlie’s shift was not better. It was her first time working Sunday Brunch and she had briefly considered quitting. It was horrendously busy, she dealt with several more rude customers, and she dropped a tray and broke three plates. She was tired and embarrassed, but not quite ready to go home yet. She took her lunch to the old T(r)oll Bridge and tried to take in the nature that surrounded her. Charlie took a bite of her cheeseburger with a sigh and closed her eyes. She was surprised that Granny was so nice to her after the incident. She had thought she was going to be fired. But Granny had helped her to clean up the mess and told her “it happens to everyone”. Aunt Judith hadn’t ever reacted so kindly when Charlie broke things. 

Charlie heard a rustling in the bushes. Her eyes shot open and she nearly dropped her burger. She stood up and got ready to run. What if it was a bear? Were there even bears in Maine? What if it was a mountain lion? She didn’t know if there were mountain lions in Maine either. Why did she decide to eat lunch in the woods? 

Something flew out of the bushes and Charlie screamed. Then she was embarrassed. It was that cat again; the one who had followed her to the sheriff’s station.

“Really?” She rolled her eyes as she caught her breath. “What’s your deal? Why do you keep following and scaring me?”

The cat didn’t answer, of course. He merely started to lick his paws and scrub at his face.

“Sure, don’t let me interrupt bath time.” Charlie sighed. “Dumb cat.”

After a few minutes of silence, the cat walked over to her.

“What’s up?” Charlie asked. 

He started to sniff at her burger.

“Uh-uh, no way man, this is mine.” Charlie held her burger high over her head. 

His pupils grew wider as he looked into her eyes and he gave a soft meow. Charlie felt her heart melt a bit.

“Damn it,” she whispered. “Fine, that was cute.” She ripped off a small chunk of meat and held it out toward the cat in her open palm. “Here you go.”

The cat sniffed at the meat for a few seconds and then snatched it eagerly from Charlie’s hand. 

“You’re welcome.” Charlie gave a small smile.

Once the cat had finished chewing, he took a few steps closer to Charlie. He butted his head against her elbow and then rubbed his cheek against her arm and began to purr.

“Oh shit, that’s really cute,” Charlie said. “Sure, have another piece.”

The two of them finished the burger together after a few minutes. Charlie expected him to leave as soon as they were done, but instead he rubbed his cheek against her arm again. 

“Oh, alright.” Charlie gave a hesitant stroke to the top of his head. When he purred, she became more confident and continued to pet him. His fur was surprisingly silky for an outdoor cat. Eventually he jumped into her lap and purred as he soaked up Charlie’s affections. Charlie wasn’t sure how long she pet the cat before her phone rang. It was Emma.

“Hi,” Charlie said.

“Hey, where are you?” Emma asked. “I thought you would’ve been home a while ago.”

“Wait, what time is it?” Charlie asked.

“It’s 4 o’clock,” Emma sounded worried. “Doesn’t brunch usually end at two?”

“Yeah, it does.” Charlie couldn’t believe she had been here for two hours. “I got some lunch and took a walk by the Toll Bridge. I lost track of time. I’m sorry. I’ll be home soon.”

“It’s okay,” Emma sounded relieved. “Don’t rush. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. It’s gonna get dark soon. Do you want me to come pick you up?”

“No, it’s fine,” Charlie assured her. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, kitty it’s time for me to go.” Charlie picked him off her lap and placed him gently on the ground before standing up.

He meowed at her in protest. 

“I’m sorry buddy,” she said. “But I’ve gotta go.”

The cat escorted her home. 

“Hey,” Emma said when Charlie entered the loft. “Did you decide whether or not you’re coming to David Nolan’s Welcome Home party?”   
“Won’t it be weird?” Charlie asked. “I won’t know anyone there.”

“Henry’s probably gonna be there,” Emma said. “Regina and Kathryn Nolan seem to be close.”

“Oh. Okay, I guess I can go to see Henry.”

“That’s the spirit!” Emma smiled. “We’ll leave at six.”

“Is Mary Margaret coming?” Charlie asked.

“No,” Emma said with a sigh. 

“She saved his life,” Charlie said. “She deserves to go.”

“I know,” Emma said. “She says she has ‘plans’, though.”

Charlie stared at Emma with her left eyebrow raised. 

“Don’t be rude!” Emma whispered.

“I didn’t say anything.” Charlie raised her hands in the air. 

“You were implying.” Emma narrowed her eyes. 

“I’m gonna go change,” Charlie said with a grin.

Charlie did feel a little bad, but Mary Margaret was such a homebody. Charlie couldn’t help thinking that a young and pretty woman like her should get out more. She knew that she would if she were an adult. Mary Margaret was always either volunteering around town or doing some kind of craft project at home in her spare time. Charlie wondered how much time Mary Margaret had spent alone before she and Emma moved in.  _ Probably a lot _ , she thought sadly. It really was a shame that Mary Margaret seemed to be so hung up on this David Nolan guy. 

Charlie and Emma left at six, as planned, and Charlie was nervous. She had been to very few parties in her life, and none without her parents. Technically, she was with  _ a _ parent this time too, but she still felt out of place. Charlie forced a smile as she was introduced to various people. She forgot all of their names immediately. Her only consolation was that Emma seemed to feel as awkward as she did. They grabbed a few  hors d’oeuvres and decided to sit on a bench in the foyer while they waited for Mrs. Nolan to show up with her husband. Regina Mills seemed to be playing hostess in her absence which left Henry free to hang out with Charlie and Emma. 

When the Nolans finally made their arrival, multiple clapped for David who looked like he wanted to die. Charlie felt acute secondhand embarrassment for him. She observed him from her vantage point as he awkwardly shook hands with various people that he clearly didn’t know. Oh God, was that what she had looked like? Probably. David Nolan was very tall with blonde hair and he looked like he played football in high school, but an injury in his senior year ended his chance at an athletic scholarship. Maybe he and Kathryn were high school sweethearts. Maybe that’s why they were estranged. They got married too young and couldn’t make it work. 

Charlie shook her head. She really needed to stop imagining elaborate backstories for people based on no evidence. Even Henry had better evidence to back up his fairy tale claims. Speaking of which, Henry was currently espousing his theories about David Nolan’s amnesia. He believed that if David continued to spend time with Mary Margaret, that his true memories would return. Henry was then interrupted by the man of the hour himself. The three of them stood up to greet him.

“So you must be the ones who saved me,” David said.

“Not me.” Charlie took a step to the side and gestured to Emma and Henry. “All them.”

David thanked them and Charlie observed him again now that he was closer. His eyes were light blue and he was handsome in a boy-next-door sort of way. Charlie supposed she could see why he appealed to Mary Margaret so much. They would look cute together if he wasn’t married. Not that it was any of her business, but Charlie thought that David and Kathryn looked a little too Barbie and Ken together. Jeez, she was starting to sound like Henry. She was probably just biased because she liked Mary Margaret so much.

“And this is my daughter, Charlie.” Emma’s voice broke Charlie out of her thoughts.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Charlie.” David gave her a charming smile and shook her hand. He had a steady, but gentle grip and something about him put her at ease. 

“You too.” Charlie gave her first genuine smile of the evening. 

“Emma, you’re roommates with Mary Margaret, right?” David asked. “Is she coming tonight?”

“She couldn’t make it,” Emma said.

“Right.” David looked disappointed.

_ Oh word? _ Charlie thought to herself. Maybe this whole thing between the two of them wasn’t as one-sided as Charlie had assumed it was. Not that she could blame David, really. Mary Margaret was really wonderful.  _ Mind your own business, Charlie! _

A waiter - Charlie couldn’t believe that there were waiters at this house party! - approached them with a tray of finger foods. David speared a mini hot dog with a toothpick.

“Wow,” Henry said. “Have you ever used a sword before?”

“What?” David gave a confused laugh and looked back at Emma. 

“Uhh..” Emma gave David a shrug and a look that said ‘ha ha kids!’ 

“I don’t think I’ve ever used a sword before, Henry,” David said kindly.

“Well, you have amnesia, right?” Henry asked. “Maybe you did and you just don’t remember.”

Charlie resisted the urge to facepalm.

“Maybe you’re right,” David said with a chuckle. “I’ll tell you what, if I remember using a sword, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Can you teach me?” Henry was grinning and practically vibrating.

“Sure.” David smiled and ruffled Henry’s hair.

Charlie thought it was nice of David to humor him. She was always grateful to adults who indulged Henry’s imagination. It was bad enough that Regina was so crappy about it, he didn’t need more people to act like that. 

“David?” Mrs. Nolan approached them all with a smile. “Are you enjoying yourself?” 

“Yeah.” David’s smile looked forced again. “This is all great.” 

“Deputy Swan, thank you so much for coming.” Kathryn gave Emma a bright smile. “And of course, thank you again for saving my David’s life.”

“Just Emma, please,” she responded. “And I didn’t do it alone.” 

“Yes, I was so sorry to hear that Mary Margaret couldn’t make it,” Kathryn said genuinely. “She’s so sweet. And of course, Henry helped too!” 

Henry beamed at her. 

“And you must be Charlie.” Kathryn shook Charlie’s hand with yet another sweet smile. “It’s so nice to meet you.” 

“Nice to meet you too.” Charlie felt guilty for comparing her to Mary Margaret and casted around for something to say. What did people usually say to hostesses? “You have a lovely home.” Charlie cringed. Was she 40? 

Kathryn gave a small giggle.

“Thank you sweetheart.” She turned back to David. “There’s some other people I’d like you to meet.”

“Of course.” David looked reluctant to leave his hiding spot. “Thanks again for coming.” 

The Nolans walked away.

“Wow,” Charlie remarked. “I did not expect her to be so nice.”

“Yeah, I hope that when Snow White and Prince Charming get back together she finds who she’s supposed to be with,” Henry said.

“Henry!” Emma gaped. “You can’t talk like that.”

“Oh right, shouldn’t talk about the mission in such a crowded place,” he said. 

“Not just that, kid.” Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think it would really hurt Mrs. Nolan’s feelings to hear anyone say something like that.” 

“But she’ll be happier when the curse breaks,” Henry said.

“Henry,” Charlie said. “Think about it. She doesn’t know about the curse. She believes this is her life. You shouldn’t break someone’s beliefs like that. How do you feel when people say mean things about your belief in the curse?” 

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Henry said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Emma squeezed his shoulder. “Just be careful what you say.”

“I will,” Henry promised. 

“Henry.” Regina’s voice rang out clear across the house. 

Charlie, Emma, and Henry all cringed.

“Come over here and say hello to Mrs. Sanger.”

“See you guys later,” Henry said with a sigh as he left to join his other mother. 

Charlie and Emma tried to avoid awkward small talk and hide from everyone except the waiters until they could find an acceptable time to leave. Eventually, they noticed that David himself was missing. They decided that if the guest of honor could dip, then so could they. They thanked Mrs. Nolan for the invite, said goodbye to Henry - and unfortunately Regina -  and rushed out the door. Once they got into the safety of the bug, they let out tandem sighs.

“That was, um, something,” Charlie remarked.

“It sucked,” Emma said. “No need to sugarcoat it.”

“Yeah, you’re right, it sucked,” Charlie said with a laugh.

Emma laughed too.

“Let’s not go to parties anymore unless we know they’re gonna be fun,” she said.

“Yeah, we’ll pretend one of us is sick,” Charlie said.

“Perfect!”

Charlie held out her pinkie to Emma who grasped it with her own in a holy oath. 

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” Emma started the car.

A few minutes later, they pulled up to their building to see a tall blonde man walking away from it, looking dejected.

“Is that...David Nolan?” Charlie squinted to make out his features in the dark.

“Yeeeeep,” Emma confirmed. 

“Guess that’s where he slipped off to,” Charlie said. 

“Oh, this is not gonna end well.” Emma turned off the engine.

They got out of the car and walked to the building. 

“Can you do me a favor?” Emma asked. “When we get inside, can you give Mary Margaret and me some space? I think Mary Margaret needs some adult advice.”

“Got it.” Charlie nodded. “I’ll get ready for bed.”

Charlie greeted Mary Margaret when she came in and let out a yawn, claiming she was ready for bed. She bid her two housemates goodnight and climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Charlie really did try not to eavesdrop, but she did hear Emma tell Mary Margaret that, “if something feels wrong, then it usually is.” That sounded like good advice to Charlie and she hoped that Mary Margaret would take it. 

The next day after school, Charlie saw Henry waving to her from across the street. She zipped over to meet him.

“Hey, how was school?” she asked.

“David Nolan was there!” Henry had the widest grin Charlie had ever seen on him.

“ _ What? _ ” Charlie blinked three times. 

“When I left Miss Blanchard’s room for lunch I saw him waiting outside the classroom!”

“What was he doing there?” 

“He must’ve been there to see Miss Blanchard,” Henry said. “I was trying to listen, but another teacher saw me and made me go to the cafeteria.”

“Henry, you shouldn’t be eavesdropping.” Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose. She was beyond grateful for the other teacher’s intervention. Who knows what Henry would have heard? 

“But it’s for Operation Cobra,” Henry insisted. “Doesn’t that cancel out the bad if it’s for the greater good?” 

“You reading Machiavelli in school or something?” Charlie asked.

“What’s that?” Henry squinted.

“Nevermind,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “Point is, don’t eavesdrop on adult conversations. You’re gonna wind up hearing some stuff you definitely should  _ not _ be hearing.”

“Like what?” Henry asked.

“Uhh…” Charlie looked around wildly. She saw Regina’s infamous black mercedes rolling up the street. “Oh! There’s your mom! We’ll talk more about the mission later. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of homework, gotta go!” 

Charlie felt like an idiot for running away from her little brother, but that conversation was  _ not _ her job. Let him ask Regina about that.

Charlie was definitely curious about what was going to happen between David and Mary Margaret, regardless of what she told Henry. Charlie didn’t know much besides what she had heard, but to her, it seemed like they were hurtling toward either happiness or heartbreak. She didn’t know much about relationships either, but this one seemed like it could be a bad idea. Or they could be happy together. 

It was really none of her business and she didn’t know why she was so invested in the outcome. Sure, she liked Mary Margaret a lot, and David seemed nice, but how could she really know what was best for them? Was she just becoming a typical small town busybody like the people in  _ Gilmore Girls _ or  _ Footloose _ ? Charlie guiltily hoped that either Mary Margaret or Emma would come home with news for her before she went to bed, but it was not to be. Emma was working the night shift and Mary Margaret didn’t come home. Charlie exhausted herself thinking of the possibilities and fell asleep at ten o’clock. 

Charlie woke with a jolt. She had dreamed that she was back in Portland, fighting with Judith. She felt sweaty and shaky as she looked over to the alarm clock on her nightstand. 2:37 AM glared out at her in bright red. Charlie went to the bathroom to wash her face and trembled the whole time. She took several deep breaths until her hands stopped shaking, but she still felt queasy. She decided to make herself chamomile tea. 

Charlie turned the stove off just as the kettle started to whistle. She made her tea, then sat at the kitchen table, sipping it slowly. She had left Portland almost two months ago and she was still having anxious dreams about her aunt. She wondered if she would ever have a good night’s sleep. 

Charlie heard creaky footsteps coming from Mary Margaret’s room and winced. She had thought she was being quiet enough not to wake anyone up. Then, a man creeped out of Mary Margaret’s bedroom, holding his shoes in his hand. Charlie jumped out of her chair and grabbed a frying pan that had been left out on the counter to dry. She didn’t know this man and - while she would never admit it - she was afraid. She opened her mouth to scream when the man raised his hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. 

“Hey!” He whisper-yelled to her. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m not an intruder, I’m here as a guest.”

“A guest?” Charlie still held the frying pan in a defensive stance. 

“Yes, I’m a friend of Mary Margaret’s,” he said.

Charlie glanced again at the shoes in his hands. She noticed that his clothing looked rumpled and his hair was a mess. Charlie felt her cheeks heat up and she put down the frying pan.

“Oh,” she said.

“You must be Emma’s daughter,” he said after a stilted moment. “Charlie, right?”

“Yeeeeah.” Charlie had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. 

“I’m Dr. Whale,” he said.

“Cool,” Charlie deadpanned. 

They stared at each other for another moment.

“Well,” Dr. Whale finally said. “It’s getting late and I’m sure you have school in the morning. I’m just gonna...go.”

Charlie nodded and Whale hurried past her. He gave her a final nod and then slipped out the door. Charlie locked it behind him and sat down again. She took a sip of tea before whispering “Oh my God,” to herself. She shook her head. At least it wasn’t David Nolan. 

* * *

On Wednesday night, Charlie looked around Granny’s and swallowed a lump in her throat. A lot more people had shown up to karaoke than she had thought would. This was great for the fundraiser, but terrible for her nerves. She hoped that someone, anyone, would volunteer to go first, but 15 minutes went by without anyone singing and she started to panic. Ms. Ocean had said she would be late and had left Charlie and Ivy in charge.

“Ivy, no one’s singing,” Charlie murmured to her friend. “This is a disaster.”

“Tell me about it,” Ivy murmured back. She bit at her nails. “Maybe you should get up there.”

“Me?!” Charlie’s eyes went wide. “Why me?”

“It was your idea.” Ivy shrugged. 

“I’ve never sang in front of people before,” Charlie said. “You have more experience - you’re Chorus Captain! You should go first.”

“I don’t sing solo,” Ivy said. “I sing with everyone else. The most I’ve sang solo is a line or two.”

“Why don’t we sing a duet?” Charlie suggested. “That way somebody’s singing, but we’re not singing alone.”

“Alright, that’s fair,” Ivy said. “‘Take Me or Leave Me’?”

“You read my mind.” Charlie grinned. 

They didn’t have a karaoke machine, but they had a laptop, speakers, and two microphones. Charlie quickly searched for a karaoke version of the song on Youtube and tried not to notice the crowd staring at her.

“You be Maureen,” Ivy said.

“Are you kidding me?” Charlie hissed. “She sings first and her part is so long!” 

“Take me or leave me, baby,” Ivy said with a laugh.

“You owe me.” Charlie rolled her eyes.

The music started and Charlie tried to avoid the eyes of her audience. She glanced at Ivy and saw she was doing the same. Her cue was coming. Charlie took a deep breath on the last beat.

“Every single day I walk down the street,” she began softly. “I hear people say ‘baby so sweet’.”

Ruby let out a whoop when she recognized the song. Charlie glanced over to where Ruby sat with Emma and Mary Margaret in a corner. They all gave her encouraging smiles. Charlie laughed and her voice grew stronger.

“Ever since puberty, everybody stares at me…” 

Charlie finally got the courage to look around the restaurant. The audience seemed to be entertained and Charlie actually started to enjoy herself. The time came for Ivy’s part and Charlie hoped that her friend wouldn’t lose her nerve.

“It won’t work,” Ivy sang. “I look before I leap. I love margins and discipline.”

Charlie and the audience cheered for Ivy. Her voice was incredible. Ivy finally smiled and continued with passion.

“I make lists in my sleep baby…” 

The girls finished the song to a bigger round of applause than they expected. They were both smiling and laughing when they were finished. Charlie noticed Ms. Ocean sitting with Emma, Mary Margaret and Ruby. She must have came in while they were singing. Ms. Ocean smiled and gestured for them to bow. They did and Charlie asked who wanted to go next. Another girl from school eagerly ran up to take their place. Charlie and Ivy got her set up with her song and then went to sit down. 

“Very well done,” Ms. Ocean said.

“You girls were fantastic!” Mary Margaret said. “I didn’t know you were that good.”

“You really were,” Emma agreed.

“Yeah you warmed my cold dead bisexual heart,” Ruby added. “Great song choice.”

“ _ Rent _ ’s always a great choice,” Charlie said. “It was Ivy’s idea.”

“I really wish Mother Superior were here,” Ivy remarked. “Her head probably would’ve spun around.”

They all laughed. 

“I mean I saw a few weird looks around,” Charlie said. “Guess they’re just not ready for  _ Rent _ . Even though it’s been out since the ‘90s.” 

“Hey so have I,” Ruby said with a shrug. “Storybrooke’s a bit behind the times though.”

“I’ll say.” Ms. Ocean shook her head. “But enough about small town bigotry, I think tonight’s going well. I’m glad I left you two in charge.”

Charlie and Ivy thanked her and settled in to listen to the rest of the karaoke singers. Despite their shaky beginning, the rest of the night went well. Multiple people sang and everyone seemed to have a good time. Charlie decided to call their first karaoke night a success. 

* * *

Charlie was working, Mr. Gold was in again, and she had a new idea.

She took his order with no nonsense and didn’t attempt small talk. Mr. Gold looked relieved. After he had finished his meal, Charlie brought a slice of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream to his table.

“I didn’t order this,” Mr. Gold said.

“I know.” Charlie smiled. “But I thought you could use something sweet.”

“I’m not paying for this.” Gold frowned.

“You don’t have to,” Charlie said. “I get a free dessert every day that I work. One of the perks of the job. I thought that today I would give my dessert to you.”

‘Why?” He looked suspicious. 

“Just because.” Charlie smiled. “Enjoy, Mr. Gold.”

She turned to walk away.

“Thank you,” Gold said.

Charlie turned back and gave him a wide smile. He gave her an almost half-smile back. 

Ruby’s mouth was hanging open when Charlie got back to the counter.

“Did you see that?!” Charlie asked. 

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Ruby shook her head. She grabbed Charlie’s hand and drew a crown on it. “You’re an actual Disney princess.”

“Damn right I am.” Charlie nodded.

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update? In MY fic????? It's more likely than you think! 
> 
> In all seriousness, I apologize for the massive delay. The last eight months have been absolutely wild for me, but I'm hoping to return to a more regular writing/posting schedule now. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. And anyone who gets the Hedwig and the Angry Inch reference is the absolute best. 
> 
> Sam, rose_of_the_underworld
> 
> Warning: Character death.

Emma should have been home for dinner two hours ago. She wasn’t answering texts or calls from either Charlie or Mary Margaret. Mary Margaret had assured Charlie that Emma was probably just busy at work and that they would heat up Emma’s dinner later. Mary Margaret gave Charlie smiles and asked her about her day, but Charlie could tell she was worried. Neither of them brought up the fact that Emma always called when she would be late.

When Mary Margaret’s phone finally rang, she smiled in relief. After a moment of listening, however, Mary Margaret’s smile dropped and her face turned pale. “I’ll be right there,” she said.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked when Mary Margaret had hung up.

“It’s… it’s Graham,” Mary Margaret said in a faint voice. “He’s — he’s dead.”

“ _Dead?_ ” Charlie felt a lump rise on her throat and a pit in her stomach. “How can he be dead? I just saw him a few days ago.”

“I saw him today,” Mary Margaret said tearfully. “I could tell that he was sick. He was feverish and speaking nonsense. I — I didn’t think he was that ill.” She took a deep breath and wiped a few tears away. “Emma was with him when it happened. She’s at the hospital now. I’m going to go pick her up.”

“I’ll come with you,” Charlie said.

“Are you sure?” Mary Margaret asked. “It’s not going to be a happy scene.”

“I know,” Charlie said. “But I’d like to go. For Emma.”

“Alright,” Mary Margaret said.

The two of them grabbed their coats and shoes and hurried out to the station wagon. The drive to the hospital was silent. Charlie saw Mary Margaret continue to wipe tears away. Mary Margaret parked and she and Charlie both took a deep breath before leaving the car.

Emma was sitting in the ER waiting room. There was a shock blanket around her shoulders and her blonde curls were thrown up into a haphazard ponytail. Her eyes and cheeks were red and puffy and there were streaks of mascara all down her face. For the first time since Charlie had met her, Emma looked small.

Charlie stayed back as Mary Margaret walked toward Emma. Mary Margaret approached Emma slowly, as if she were a wounded animal. Emma startled when Mary Margaret sat down next to her; she hadn’t noticed her coming. Mary Margaret said something softly to Emma and brushed a lock of hair away from her face. The action reminded Charlie so strongly of her mother that it made her heart ache.

That thought suddenly alerted Charlie to the fact that she was in a hospital. Not that she hadn’t known that previously, but this whole scene was too familiar. When Charlie had been at the hospital last month with Ashley, she had been fine. She was running on adrenaline and the maternity ward was so different than the ER. But here, the gloom of death hung over the room like an anvil, pressing down on Charlie’s shoulders. The sterile scent of a hospital invaded Charlie’s nose and she gagged. Charlie forced herself to breathe through her mouth and luckily Mary Margaret had coaxed Emma out of her seat by then, and was guiding her toward the exit.

When they got to her, Charlie impulsively grabbed Emma’s hand. She didn’t know if she was trying to ground herself or Emma. Charlie gave Emma’s hand a gentle squeeze. Emma tried to smile at Charlie, but failed, giving her a nod and squeezing her hand back. The three women left the hospital and went home.

The next day was Saturday. At noon, Emma still hadn’t come out of her room. Charlie had never been up and ready before Emma before. Mary Margaret made bacon and eggs and hot chocolate and carried it up to Emma’s room on a tray. She didn’t come back down and Charlie realized that she was making sure that Emma ate. Charlie kept debating about whether or not she should go in as well. Did Emma want more company or less company? Could Charlie handle seeing Emma look the way that she herself must have looked four years ago?

*

Charlie opened her eyes with great effort; each lid felt like it weighed 100 pounds. The white fluorescent light burned her eyes and she closed them again. Charlie took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, more prepared this time. Her entire body was in agony, her head worst of all, and there was an incessant beeping noise that was making it worse. Charlie raised an arm that felt like lead to her head to feel for the source of pain.

Her fingers searched through the hair until she found a bald spot just above her right temple. Her pain increased as she touched the bare skin, but she couldn’t stop. Charlie moved her fingers until she felt wires in her skin. The pain flared instantly and Charlie dropped her hand with a gasp. _Stitches_ , she thought groggily. It was that thought which brought her surroundings into focus.

She was lying on a bed in a hospital room, the thin blanket pulled up to just under her arms. Charlie managed to move her pounding head to the left. There was an IV in her left arm and a heartbeat sensor on her index finger, hooked up to a monitor. That explained the beeping. Why was she here? What had happened to her? Where were Mom and Dad? Just then, a nurse walked into the room.

“Oh! You’re awake,” the nurse looked surprised, but pleased.

Charlie tried to answer, but found her tongue and throat to be completely dry. The nurse quickly poured a glass of water from the bedside table and eased Charlie up to help her drink. The nurse pushed a button on the wall. Charlie finished drinking and wanted to thank the nurse, but what came out instead was:

“What happened?”

“You were in an accident,” the nurse said.

Another nurse entered the room and the first asked her to page the doctor. She did so and the first nurse turned back to Charlie.

“I’m Michelle,” she said. “Can you tell me your name?”

“It’s Charlie.”

“Your full name?"

"Charlotte Kaye.”

Just then, a doctor entered the room.

“Hey kiddo, it’s good to see you awake,” he said. “I’m Dr. Hernandez.” He held out his hand for her to shake.

“Charlie.” She shook his hand, but she couldn’t take the pleasantries anymore. “Why am I here? Where are my parents?”

The doctor and nurse stiffened.

“What happened?” Charlie’s voice rose in pitch.

“Try to remember,” Dr. Hernandez said gently. “When’s the last time you remember seeing your parents?”

Charlie tried to think back. It took her a minute.

“We were going apple picking,” she said slowly. “We were talking and —” Charlie cut herself off with a gasp. She saw the image of a truck veering out of the opposite lane and crashing into the side of the car.

“We were in a car crash.” Charlie swallowed hard. “ Where are my parents?! Are they okay?!”

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Hernandez said. “Your parents didn’t survive the collision.”

Charlie suddenly remembered more. The driver’s side completely crushed, her father invisible to her. Her mother’s head hitting the passenger side window and a sickening crack. Her own head hitting the window. Seeing the wreckage around her and blacking out before she could react.

“No,” Charlie choked out. She shook her head vigorously and the pain flared. They couldn’t be dead. They couldn’t be. It was hard to think. There was an awful screaming sound along with a furious beeping, and her chest felt tight. She couldn’t breathe.

Michelle held onto Charlie’s right hand and was saying something, but Charlie couldn’t hear her. Finally, Charlie realized that the screaming was her own, but she couldn’t stop. She saw the doctor dropping something into her IV bag. A group of concerned-looking hospital staff were rushing into the room. Soon, Charlie found her energy depleting and she stopped screaming. The beeping of the heart monitor began to slow down and Charlie felt her eyelids droop. Then everything went black.

When Charlie woke again, the hospital staff explained to her that, aside from Dad, Aunt Judith was listed as her mother’s emergency contact. They had called Judith multiple times with no answer. Charlie remembered her mother talking to Judith a few weeks before. She was going on a cruise with her husband. Charlie couldn’t remember when they’d be back. Charlie was stuck alone for the time being.

Michelle became her favorite nurse. She brought Charlie her parent’s personal effects and some of her daughter’s old pajamas so that Charlie didn’t have to wear the hospital gowns. Somehow, one of the most soothing things that Michelle did for Charlie was paint her nails.

The first day that Charlie was fully conscious, Michelle brought in three colors and had Charlie choose one. She cut and filed Charlie’s nails and painted them lavender. It was something so small, but it made Charlie feel somewhat human again.

*

Charlie was sitting at the kitchen counter when Mary Margaret came downstairs from Emma’s room with the empty breakfast tray.

“I need to pick up Emma’s car from the sheriff’s station and go to the store,” Mary Margaret said. “Can you listen for Emma? In  case she needs anything?”

“Yeah, of course,” Charlie said with a nod.

Mary Margaret put her coat and shoes on and told Charlie to call if she needed anything. Mary Margaret left and Charlie made up her mind. She went to her room and grabbed her small nail kit. She brought it over to Emma’s room, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Emma’s voice was hoarse.

Charlie entered and saw Emma sitting on her bed in her pajamas. Her hair was tangled and her face was still slightly swollen.

“Hi,” Charlie said.

“Hey,” Emma said softly.

“Can I paint your nails?” Charlie asked.

“Um, what?”

Charlie walked over to Emma’s bed and sat down. She unzipped the pouch and began to pull out bottles of nail polish.

“I have lots of colors,” Charlie said. “Which do you like best?”

“Um, red, I guess,” Emma said.

“Good choice.” Charlie put the other bottles away and took out the nail file. They were quiet for a while as Charlie carefully filed Emma’s nails. Finally, Charlie spoke what was on her mind. “I’m not going to ask you how you are,” she said. “I know you’re not okay. But I wanted to let you know that I know what you’re going through. And I’m here if you wanna talk or just hang out.”

Emma squeezed Charlie’s hands. “Thank you,” she said.

“You guys were close, right?” Charlie asked.

“We could have been,” Emma said. “We didn’t know each other long enough...but I felt like there was something there...Maybe if I didn’t push him away.” A fresh set of tears burst from Emma’s eyes.

Charlie moved next to Emma and put an arm around her shoulders. She handed her a box of tissues from the nightstand. “You couldn’t have known,” she said.

“That’s the thing,” Emma said. “I never know. Either I push them away or they leave. In this case, both.”

“I get that,” Charlie said. “I _really_ get that.”

“You do, don’t you?” Emma sobbed. “I was the first person to leave you.”

“No, you didn’t.” Charlie shook her head and swallowed down her own tears. “I’m sorry that I accused you of that. I was angry, but I shouldn’t have said it.”

“I wanted you,” Emma admitted with another sob. “I wanted to keep you so bad. But I couldn’t. They let me hold you for a few minutes and then I had to let you go. It was one of the worst moments of my life. And then, a few years later, I let Henry go. I couldn’t even look at him after what I went through with you. I couldn’t go through that again. But it still hurt. I left you both.”

“You didn’t,” Charlie repeated. “You were giving us our best chance. I see that now.”

“I’m sorry,” Emma whimpered.

“It’s okay,” Charlie said. “I’m not angry anymore. I don’t know if I was ever _truly_ angry with you. Angry at life, sure, but not at you.”

Emma continued to cry for a few more minutes and Charlie let her. When she finally stopped, Emma blew her nose and wiped her tears away.

“Thank you,” Emma said. “For being here. For understanding.”

Charlie nodded her head. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. She decided on: “Do you want me to finish painting your nails?”

Emma gave a stilted laugh.

“Okay,” she agreed with half of what was almost a smile.

***

The next few days were brutal. The Storybrooke Daily Mirror published Graham’s obituary and stated that the official cause of death was a heart attack. A rare occurrence for such a young man, but not unheard of. Graham had no family, but the entire town came to his funeral. It seemed that the late sheriff truly was beloved and respected by everyone. The convent hosted the bereavement luncheon.

“You know,” Ivy told Charlie over sandwiches. “Sheriff Graham was a really good guy. One time I was walking home in the rain and I forgot my umbrella. He pulled up in his sheriff’s car and ran out to hand me an umbrella. I thought that was gonna be it, but he offered me a ride home. And not in a creepy way either. He just genuinely wanted to help.

“When we got in the car, he gave me his jacket and turned the heat on full blast. And when we got to the convent, he walked me to the door and made sure I got inside. He must’ve gotten just as soaked as I was, but he was always smiling. I don’t ever have crushes, but I had a crush on him.”

“Ivy, that’s not appropriate,” a stern voice said from behind the girls. A strict-looking nun had her arms crossed and a pinched expression.

“I was just saying that he was nice.” Ivy cast her eyes to the floor. “And everyone thought he was handsome.”

“That is not how a sister of the covenant speaks,” the nun said with a sniff.

“I’m not a nun,” Ivy pointed out.

“Yet,” the nun insisted.

“You must be Ivy’s godmother,” Charlie cut in. “I’m Charlie. I go to school with Ivy.”

“Oh yes, Deputy Swan’s girl.” The nun was suddenly all smiles, which looked fake in Charlie’s opinion. “I’m Mother Superior here at the convent.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Charlie shook her hand.

“I don’t recall seeing you at Church.” Mother Superior all but pouted.

“Oh, um,” Charlie stuttered. “My relationship with God is a little, ah...personal and private.”

“Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”

Charlie saw Ivy cringe from the corner of her eye.

“I...love his work,” Charlie finally decided on as a response.

Ivy let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a snort.

“Well!” Mother Superior clasped her hands together with another fake smile. “That is definitely a start! Remember, there’s always room for more at Church. I’m sure that Mary Margaret would be happy to take you along with her on Sundays. And I know that Ivy will be thrilled to finally have a friend there! She just doesn’t fit in with the other kids, not even the other chorus members.”

“Mother Superior, please.” Ivy looked like she wanted to die.

Luckily, another nun called Mother Superior from across the room. Ivy’s godmother gave the girls one last cheesy smile and flounced over to her fellow sister.

“She seems...fun,” Charlie said after a moment.

“I am so sorry about her,” Ivy said.

“Don’t be sorry.” Charlie squeezed Ivy’s shoulder. “That was really shitty of her to say that stuff about you.”

“Whatever. I’m used to it.” Ivy threw her plate in the garbage and hugged her elbows. “I’m sorry, but I kind of want to go be alone right now.”

“Yeah, of course,” Charlie said with a nod. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“See you around, Charlie.” Ivy slipped through the crowd and out of the room.

Charlie felt her heart clench as she watched Ivy go. The whole scene she had just witnessed was way too familiar. Charlie didn’t know if Ivy’s relationship with Mother Superior was similar to the one she had with Judith. She didn’t know if one interaction was enough to go on. But she did know that she was going to keep an eye on them.

Charlie took a deep breath and tried to clear the bad associations from her mind. She looked around the room for a distraction and spied Henry sitting by himself at a table in a corner. Charlie scanned the area and saw Mayor Mills looking sufficiently sad while talking to a group of adults. She took this moment of distraction to go sit next to Henry.

“Hey buddy,” she said.

“Hey,” he said softly. Charlie had never seen him look so upset. He had barely looked at her when she sat down and was staring at his hands in his lap.

“Do you want to talk?” Charlie asked gently. “About Graham? I know he was your friend.”

“Some friend I turned out to be,” Henry mumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s my fault he’s dead.” Henry started to cry. “I led him straight into her trap.”

“What are you talking about?” Charlie was startled.

“I let Graham get involved with Operation Cobra and the Evil Queen killed him.”

Charlie pulled Henry into a hug. He held on tight and she stroked his hair.

“I don’t understand, Henry.” Charlie tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Can you start from the beginning?”

“The day he died,” Henry began with a sob. “Graham came to my house. He asked to see the book. He told me he was having visions of wolves and of him trying to hurt Miss Blanchard. I figured out that he was the Huntsman. The one the Queen sent to kill Snow White. I told him that the Queen had his heart and it’s all my fault.”

“His...heart?” Charlie asked. “Like he was in love with her?”

“No.” Henry shook his head against her shoulder. “After he spared Snow White, the Queen ripped his heart out of his chest. It’s what she does. If she has someone’s heart, she can control them. She wanted to punish him for his disobedience, by making sure he could never betray her again.

“He must’ve gone to her vault to try to get his heart back. She must’ve caught him and figured out that he was getting his memories back. So she crushed his heart. And it’s all my fault. He would’ve been safe if he didn’t know.”

“Henry.” Charlie pulled away from him. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked in his eyes. “It is _not_ your fault. Graham had a heart attack. The doctors said so. He was having those...visions that day because he was sick. If the Queen really had his heart, don’t you think the doctors would have noticed that his heart was missing from his chest?”

“The curse makes people see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe,” Henry said. “The doctors were looking for a normal explanation so they found one.”

Charlie had to admit that it was a pretty sound argument even if the topic was completely nonsensical, but she couldn’t tell Henry that. Instead, she took a clean napkin from the table and used it to wipe Henry’s tears away. She handed him another so that he could blow his nose.

“Listen Henry,” she said. “Maybe we can’t say what happened to Graham for sure. We could believe the doctors or believe in your theory about the curse. Either way, believe _me_ when I tell you that it is _not_ your fault. If it was a heart attack, nobody could have prevented it. If it was the Queen, it _still_ isn’t your fault. You were just trying to help Graham. If he was getting his memories back, then he would have looked for his heart eventually anyway.

“Now, while the Queen theory is _possible_ , I really do think that Graham had a heart attack. It’s up to you what you want to believe, _but_ you will _not_ believe it’s your fault, okay? You, Henry Mills, are a good person and you never physically harmed Graham. It is impossible in every single way that you could be responsible for his death. Okay?”   
Henry still did not look convinced, but he said, “Okay,” and had stopped crying. Charlie took a deep breath. Maybe Henry wouldn’t believe it right away, but hopefully he’d stop blaming himself soon.

“I think we should stop Operation Cobra,” Henry said. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

Charlie had always expected that, eventually, Henry would give up on Operation Cobra after a breakthrough in therapy or after growing up a bit; she hadn’t expected it to happen like this. She almost wanted to encourage him to keep the mission going, but she didn’t know if that would just make everything worse.

“Whatever you want, bud,” Charlie decided on. “I’m always in your corner. No matter what you decide.”

Henry gave her a teary smile and hugged her again.

“Thank you, Charlie,” he said.

“Any time.” She squeezed him tight.

“Henry,” a voice said.

Charlie had to try very hard not to sigh. She gently pulled away from Henry and saw Mayor Mills standing in front of the table. Charlie quickly glanced at Henry, who had turned pale.

“Henry,” Mayor Mills repeated. Her voice was gentler than Charlie had ever heard it, not soft, but not snapping as it usually was. “It’s time for us to leave. Go thank Mother Superior for hosting.”

Henry nodded. Before he could get up, Charlie squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. He gave her a half smile back before doing as his mother had said. Regina stared at Charlie for a moment before giving her a nod and following Henry.

Mary Margaret and Emma found Charlie soon after and told her it was time to leave. They thanked Mother Superior and walked out to the station wagon. Just as Charlie opened the door, her chest suddenly felt tight. The usually spacious backseat seemed impossibly small today and Charlie couldn’t bear the thought of being trapped back there even for the few minutes it would take to get home.

“Guys,” Charlie said before Emma and Mary Margaret could get in the car. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll meet you guys at the Loft a little later.”

The two women looked concerned. They shared a glance.

“Are you sure?” Mary Margaret asked. “The sun is setting earlier these days.”

“I won’t be long,” Charlie said. “I’ll be back by dark.”

“You’ll call if you need us to come get you?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, I promise,” Charlie said. “Can I go?”

“Okay,” Emma said. “Be safe.

“I will be.” Charlie closed the car door and gave her two guardians a wave before walking in the opposite direction of home, toward the old T(r)oll Bridge. It didn’t take long for her to arrive. She quickly crossed the bridge and found an old stump just at the edge of the woods to sit on. Charlie tried to cover her butt with her pea coat as best as she could; she didn’t want to get her nice black dress dirty. She hoped it would be enough.

Charlie just sat, hunched over, on that cold stump for a while. Her mind was going at a mile a minute and she couldn’t grasp a full thought before it became replaced with something else. Charlie sat in a haze until she heard a soft meow to her right and felt something soft brush against her hand. Charlie jumped. It was the large brown cat again.

“Oh, hey man,” Charlie said. She reached her hand back down to pet him. “Sorry about that, I just wasn’t expecting any company.”

The cat stood up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on Charlie’s thigh. He looked deep into her eyes and meowed again. Curious, Charlie sat up straight. The cat jumped right into her lap and nuzzled his face against her stomach. Charlie didn’t know why, but this action made her burst into tears. All of the stress and grief of the last week had come pouring out during this quiet moment in the woods. Charlie sobbed loudly for quite some time, but rather than being startled, the cat merely cuddled close to Charlie and purred loudly.

Charlie stroked his soft fur until her tears had finally abated. She was grateful for the small package of tissues that Mary Margaret had stuffed into her coat pocket that morning. She blew her nose loudly and wiped her tears. She must have looked awful. Charlie took several deep breaths and continued to pet the cat in her lap until she felt calmer.

Why was she crying like this? She had barely known Graham, had only met him a handful of times. How could she possibly be so affected by the tragedy? It made sense for Emma and Henry to be mourning, but not her. Was she really crying for Graham, or was it for her friends and fam— friends? Was it for herself? Was she just remembering the stinging loss of her parents, a pain that had never really gone away?

The sun was starting to set. Charlie needed to go home. She gave the cat one last cuddle and gently lifted him off her lap and to the ground. She scratched him behind the ears and then stood up. The large brown cat walked her home.

 


End file.
